I Have a Crush on a YouTube Star
by we'reonfire
Summary: The life of a famous YouTuber isn't that far of a stretch from a regular teenager. But with us, it's tough to have a close to normal life in this town. Everlark online/high-school AU.
1. My New Neighbor

A/N: A new story I thought up :) hope you guys like it :)

concept: Peeta Mellark's neighbor is a Youtuber. Katniss, you make this town a lot less boring.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Hunger Games or Both of Us by Taylor Swift and B.O.B

ENJOY :)

* * *

Oh great. A new school, a new town, a new life. I'd rather have my old life back, thank you very much.

* * *

"At least in my old life I had friends. Bless Facebook." I muttered, scanning the desks for a free, and working computer.  
"Now in some small town with no-one around." I rasp quietly. Finally! A free computer! I sink into the seat, sighing in comfort. I quickly logged on Facebook.  
'Now I know why my parents left Vancouver when I was younger O_O' I typed. Almost immediately, Delly Cartwright responded.  
'Sorry Peet :(' the comment read. I chuckled. Classic Delly.  
"Small town," I grunted, fixing my backpack to the edge of the seat. A quiet, breathy laugh came from beside me. I turned my head and saw a girl, maybe the same age as me suppressing her laughter.  
"Small town?" she asks, her silver eyes twinkling warmly. They're pretty. I shrug awkwardly.  
"The place I lived before was bigger." I mumble. She shakes her head, suppressing more laughter and smirking slightly. Um. What did I say?  
"Vancouver isn't small," She states, turning her attention back to her computer.  
"Maybe the place you lived before was too big.' She added thoughtfully. I couldn't help but notice but her bobbing head and her small fingers playing notes on an imaginary guitar. I then see her bright, apple green earbuds stuck in her ears. My eyes travelled to her hair, dark brown and put in a french braid that started at her left and ended at her right where her hair continued until just above her waist. It looks soft. I'd like to see it down. I peered curiously at her computer screen and saw the title 'Viva la Vida' on Youtube. Her eyes were closed, letting me observe her long black eyelashes and her flawless olive skin. She hums to Coldplay's song happily and none of the other visitors look bothered or annoyed. If anything, they look content. The song ends and she looks to me again.  
"So what school are you going to this year?" she asks curiously.  
"Falcon Place." I answer nonchalantly. Her eyes widen.  
"What're you doing there?" she sputters.  
"That place is way too dodgey to take seriously. You sit on the floor, your desk is a ragged piece of slate and you're guaranteed a fight every single day." She whispers in a shaky voice. Great. Now I can add 'scary school' to my list.  
"Where are you going?" I ask curiously. I haven't explored the neighborhood yet.  
"Aderyn Park. I'm already recommended for the music program and a few of the teams already." She admits proudly.  
"Huh."  
"Yeah."  
"You smart?" I ask. The girl shrugs timidly.  
"I've got a 97 percent grade average in all my classes last year." She mumbles, fidgeting with her hands. My eyes widen. Are you freaking kidding me?  
"Even PE?" I ask incredulously.  
"98 percent in the seventh grade. I'm on softball, archery and track." She says quietly.  
"Is Aderyn an Inter-A or exclusive school or something?" I ask. She shakes her head. Huh. I thought she'd be snooty with her grades.  
"Inter-A is overrated. And plus, you have to be top-notch for that. Mainstream is more fun."  
"Huh. You're weird," she scrunches her nose.  
"In a good way." I reassure. She looks satisfied.  
"Good." Huh. I guess she likes being weird.  
"What's your name?" I hadn't asked earlier.  
"Katniss Everdeen. How 'bout you?"  
"Peeta Mellark."  
"Nice to meet you, Peeta."  
"You too, Katniss."  
We chat for a while, forgetting our computers completely. I learn that Katniss has more friends that are boys than girls, and that her fingers are (freakishly) double jointed. I watch just the top of her finger curl downwards while the rest of her finger stays straight. I shudder. I also learn that she lives with Gale Hawthorne, because her mom and dad died in a car accident. I talk to her about my mom and dad (how my mom is getting more pleasant everyday and my dad is getting more happy everyday) we walk down the street and to my house which is still being furnished with our stuff.  
"this is your house?" she asks, surprised. I nod. She smiles. She runs into the next house over and she looks out a window just in front of mine.  
"Looks like we're neighbors!" she shouts from the second floor. I laugh and go to my window. We open the window and laugh.  
"Awesome." I remark. Her room is painted a pale green and I see a piano and guitar in the corner. We play a little badminton and throw around a frisbee while she sneakily informs me about the neighborhood. There's a park just across the street, a pub (great. Drunks.) and how there's one angry couple just beside my house who hangs their socks on bushes and call her "that annoying girl a few doors down." We chat and play around until my brother, Andrew calls me in, and a boy maybe two years older calls Katniss in.  
"Well, later neighbor." She says cheerily before yelling,  
"I'm coming Gale!" and runs into her house with a cute wave. I step into our house and we eat some pizza Andrew ordered and I make my way to my room. Opening my window and I see Katniss with her hair down. She's so pretty. Anyway, she's dancing gracefully with a violin in her hand and singing. Although I can't hear her. I chuckle and keep my blinds up. I fall onto my bed, and typing some stuff into Youtube. And suddenly, I see a cover of Both of Us by B.O.B and Taylor Swift with 2 million views and 99 percent thumbs up. The username is 'KatonFire' and it couldn't be. I sneak a look at Katniss still dancing with the violin in hand and glance at the cover. Shakily, I click the thumbnail and I'm surprised to see my new friend and neighbor flicker to life on my laptop screen.

"It's Katniss!' she greets happily. Her guitar is in hand and she sits on the bed criss0cross in the video. She starts strumming gracefully.

_I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both us  
Someday I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of us_

She starts. My jaw drops. Her voice is so beautiful. I hear the birds go silent outside of the window.

_Ever thought about losing it?  
When your money is all gone and you lose your whip  
You might lose your grip  
When the landlord tell you that you're due for rent  
And the grass so green on the other side  
Make you wanna make a run straight through the fence  
Open up the fridge about 20 times  
But still can't find no food in it  
That's foolishness_

Her voice changes to a more playful tone at the rap. She says the verse so easily, and I can understand every word.

_And sometimes I wonder  
All we care so much about the way we look  
And the way we talk, and the way we act  
And the clothes we bought, how much that cost?  
Does it even really matter?  
Cuz if life is an uphill battle,  
We all try to climb on the same old ladder  
In the same boat with the same old paddle_

Her voice remains strong.

_Why so shallow, I'm just asking  
What's the pattern to the madness?  
Everybody in a #1 draft pick  
Most of us ain't Hollywood actors  
But if it's all for one, and one for all  
Then maybe one day we all can ball  
Do it one time for the underdogs  
Sincerely yours, from one of y'all_

Her voice goes back to graceful when she reaches the chorus.

_I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both us  
Someday I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of us_

_I can feel your pain,  
I can feel your struggle  
You just want to live  
But everything so low,  
That you can drown in the puddle  
That's why I gotta hold us up  
Yeah hold us up  
For all the times no one ever spoke for us  
So every single time that they play this song  
You can say that, "that's what Katniss sang for us"_

She changed "Bobby Ray wrote" to "Katniss sang" That's so cute.

_When the tides get too high  
And the sea up underneath get so deep  
And you feel like you're just another person  
Getting lost in the crowd  
Way up high in the nosebleeds  
Because we've both been there  
Yeah both of us  
But we still stand tall  
With our shoulders up_

_And even though we always against the odds  
These are the things that have molded us  
And if life hadn't chosen us  
Sometimes I wonder  
Where I would have wound up  
Cuz if it was up to me  
I would make a new blueprint  
Then build it from the ground up  
Hey, but if its all for one  
And One for all  
Then maybe one day  
We all could ball  
Do it one time for the underdogs  
From Katniss E to all of y'all_

_I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both us  
Someday I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of us_

And she ends the song with a note that makes my heart shatter with joy. Oh my god. I love this town. The birds are still silent. I glance at my neighbor who is currently laughing with a girl who must be her sister, and smile.

* * *

Katniss, you make this town a lot less boring.


	2. THANK YOU WORLD

**A/N:**Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't been updating. This is a rather long chapter, around 3000 words. And I think it's a pretty good amount for my standards. Hope you like it :)

**concept**: Peeta's next door neighbor turns out to be a YouTube sensation. Katniss, you make this town a lot less broing.

**DISCLAIMER:** I wish I owned the Hunger Games.

* * *

_Huh. Turns out, I'm perfectly okay where I am right now. It's like the center of the entire Earth shifted, just to give me the GREATEST human on the planet. THANK YOU WORLD!_

* * *

I tumble down the stairs to try to convince my mom to switch to Aderyn Park Secondary for grade eight. I checked out their website and they actually looked like a pretty good school. Falcon Place didn't even have a website. The only results I got from Google were a few articles in the news about the murdering of two teens. Yikes.  
"Move Peeta!" Gabe snaps. I roll my eyes. Gabe is my older brother. And Andrew is my oldest brother. Yeah, I'm the youngest. Not fun when you have two perverted older brothers trying to teach you everything about stuff you do when you're married. I almost threw up from the stuff they told me. I'm what they call "innocent." Dear lord, I hope Katniss doesn't have older brothers.  
"Mom? I just saw the place I'm supposed to go to school. It's freaky." I say, glaring at Gabe who suggested the school. _I know just what to get you as your birthday present. It's going to involve your worst fear-mutilated dolls._ I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a freshly baked muffin off the counter. It tasted SO good.  
"Freaky how?" My mother asked while cooking chicken.  
"Freaky as in your desk is a piece of slate." I say bluntly, grabbing another muffin.  
"Ah-ah!" she scolded, slapping my hand away from the DELICIOUS chocolate chip muffin.  
"Those are for the neighbors. They're coming over for dinner tonight. Well, just the parents and their son and daughter." She clarified. Wait, Katniss is coming over? THANK YOU WORLD!  
"You know, they have a daughter your age, Peet." My mother says absentmindedly, still watching the chicken fry. YES!  
"And they have a son Andrew's age too." She adds.  
"The neighbors are coming over?" my father asks, coming up from the couch. My mom nods in confirmation.  
"Anyway.." I say, stressing 'way.'  
"Can I switch to Aderyn Park? It's closer, and it's an actual school." I say the last part as I glare at Gabe. He shrugs mischievously. Screw. My. Life.  
"Sure, sure. I didn't register you in Falcon Place yet, but I have to see the website later." Says mother. I nod obediently.  
"The next door neighbor goes there too." I add innocently.  
"Oh, the famous KATNISS EVERDEEN?" Gabe says loud enough to hear through the windows. Suddenly, I wish our house didn't have so many windows. I've got 4 in my room alone. But, I guess I don't mind. I wake up and Katniss is playing a lullaby on her violin every morning. Although I never hear her singing along. I wish she would.  
"Shut up." I mutter, grabbing my laptop and once again logging onto Facebook.  
'This is my next door neighbor :)' I type, tagging Katniss (yup, she accepted my friend request.) and adding her cover of Ours by Taylor Swift. I think she's into Taylor Swift. And almost immediately, Gabe has commented.  
'Quit stalking the poor girl. She's already got her window facing yours. She doesn't need this.' He comments. I look up to see Gabe smirking at me while dangling his phone threateningly.  
"Just because my laptop fell into the dishwasher, doesn't mean I can't use Facebook!" he says gleefully, running upstairs laughing like a mischievous little boy. I roll my eyes. I swear, it's like he's the youngest in the family. Well, he does have the brain capacity of a baby. I snicker at my thought.  
"So what time are they coming over?" I ask casually, while looking through pictures of my baby years. One of me as newborn. Geez, I look ugly. Meh, my eyes look okay. Another one of me in my toddling years. Playing in the snow. I never ever remembered playing with snow. I guess it's a Vancouver thing. I glance at the door and smile.  
_Well, come winter I guess we'll see, won't we Katniss?_ I think sneakily to myself.  
"Soon, it's 5 right now, so at about 7. It'll still be sunny out so you can go for a walk with the girl while the boy stays here." My mother says, while idly flipping the chicken. I nod quietly. I'd love some alone time with Katniss. I smell more muffins baking and my mouth waters. Ohh, Katniss, if you weren't coming over my belly would be full. I run upstairs to somewhat avoid the smell of chocolate chip muffins wafting to my nose. I close my door in hopes of escaping the heavenly scent of chocolately goodness only to be greeted by Katniss and Gale joking around and repairing a -shoe.  
"Y'know Kat, you should get back into gymnastics." He says frowning. Katniss sighs.  
"Well, I actually got invited to get back into it, but I don't know," she sighs.  
"I mean, I've got archery, track, softball, and I'm getting all these invitations to go into honor schools, Inter-A programs and talent programs. I dunno, Gale. It's a lot already." She sighs, putting her hands in her face.  
"I mean, everyone thinks I've got life easy, but it's not! I study for so long to get the grades I get, and in return, people hate me because they think it comes naturally to me? I've had to take summer school, tutoring and you've even had to help me. I hate it when people think that just because I get good grades, I'm on a bunch of teams, get invites to better schools, that my life is peachy. It's not, Gale. It's really not." She says, sounding defeated. My heart breaks when her beautiful silver eyes fill with tears. Gale notices, and he kneels down and raps her forehead with his fist then his own.  
"Remember Kat? Our signal to tell each other what's on our minds." He reminds gently. I wish it was me who could wrap her up in my arms-even though I am only entering the eighth grade in two months.  
"Now go on, please," says Gale. She sighs gently, and flops down on her bed.  
"Well, I'm getting invites from Cade Academy," says Katniss, running her fingers through her hair annoyed by it. Either that, or it's just nerves. The latter would be more fitting. I quickly log onto my laptop, and search 'Cade Academy', and judging by the widening of Gale's gray eyes and the choking of his water, it must be a good school. I click the first result. It's the website. I look through it, noticing the many musical and art programs. A notice at the top catches my gaze.  
"please note: the only possible way to be considered for registration, is to have been either recommended or invited by academy officials."  
My eyes widen. This is a super exclusive school. I notice all the pictures of choirs with awards, and can instantly see Katniss in the front smiling brightly, her silver eyes shining with accomplishment. I start to wonder why she hasn't accepted the offer. It could give her the skills she needs to become serious about music. Although, judging by the quality of her covers and song choice, it's already apparent she wants to become a singer as she grows. Her voice suddenly breaks into my head.  
"Inter-A is overrated. And plus, you have to be top-notch for that. Mainstream is more fun." Her lovely voice echoes inside my mind from our conversation in the library. She's already top notch! I saw certificates in her room (I'm not a stalker. I just saw from her open window, I swear.) and that's enough proof that she should go there.  
"Cade Academy is a musical prodigy school, Katniss. Why don't you go there? They could give you your big break!" exclaims Gale, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Katniss shrugs. Her eyes catch Gale's gaze, but she instantly looks down, from guilt, but I can only assume.  
"What else have you been hiding from me?" asks Gale, shaking her shoulder slightly. My hands itch to feel her hands entwined with mine-even though I'm only entering the eighth grade in two months. Katniss sighs guiltily, and bites her lip. Oh my god. That's freaking sexy. I clench my fists and try to control my thoughts. I don't want to come across as dirty in my first year of high school. Although, I'm surprised I don't crack 'that's what she said' jokes, what with my brother's comments rattling every waking minute of my life. I find myself chuckling at them sometimes, but only at the way the person would say it. Personally, I think it's making girls look dirty and slutty by saying that. Katniss is a girl. (a beautiful girl at that) And she isn't dirty or slutty. I hope we're good friends in school.  
"Y'know Drew?" asks Katniss. Gale nods, his face tight. Um. Who's Drew?  
"He thought it was a funny joke to apply me to Columbia Park," I instantly type 'Columbia Park' into the search engine.  
"And I got accepted in the first degree of the examination process." She finishes. I think I heard Gale's jaw click. I click the first result, and the school's website pops up. The first thing I see is a large school with floor to ceiling glass windows, a lake just behind it, and the subtitle 'Home of the DOVES.' Pictures of girls holding awards triumphantly litter the page. I notice it's an all girl school. Damn.  
"But I didn't get through the 2nd degree of examination, so I couldn't be accepted if I wanted." She reassures. My heart beats a little slower at this. Gale shakes his head, and I suddenly feel as if I'm intruding. It's a wonder they haven't noticed me.  
"Look, Katniss. If you want to put your god-given talents to use, and I'm not just talking about YouTube, then at least try the other schools. For at least a year. Please?" Gale asks. Katniss ponders thoughtfully for a moment. Then she shakes her head pitifully.  
"They'd kick me out after a day." She concludes. Gale rolls his eyes annoyingly.  
"If they do, I'm kicking them." He says. Then he stands.  
"you should get ready for dinner. Mom and Dad are gonna leave any second now." He says. And that's when I notice the time. 6:45. _Damn_. Katniss is currently wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt, and when she turns around to close the blinds as she changes, I quickly jump on my bed and try to look as nonchalant as I can, looking through more photos of me. Hey, that picture looks okay. It's me asleep on a couch. I think I hear Katniss say my name under her breath, as she closes the window humming melodically to the lullaby she plays every morning. I try to wipe the silly grin off my face, but it's impossible.

"PEETA! GET YOUR LAZY ASS DOWN HERE, YOUR LOOOOVE IS HERE!" Gabe bellows, and I make myself look presentable. I smooth down my hair, and put on shorts. It's kinda warm out, and when Katniss and I go for a walk (my mother has a schedule for EVERYTHING) I won't have to change. I keep my blinds, and my window wide open. I charge downstairs, and just hear my mother mutter,  
"Language, Gabe," before Andrew opens the door to reveal Gale, and his parents. No Katniss. Gale smiles at Andrew, and he opens the door wide to let them in.  
"Please come in!" Andrew says cheerily. Gale's mother skips to the kitchen while my father and Gale's father introduce themselves. I can hear the mom's chit-chat from the living room.  
"Oh, Katniss is so precious. I'm glad she came to live with us. Your house is beautiful."  
"Oh, thank you. I hear Peeta's window is right across from Katniss'. I apologize for any loud music blaring out of his room before hand."  
"MOM." I groan, pushing my face into the pillow.  
"Speaking of which, where is Katniss?"  
"Oh, that girl will come in soon. She likes to find inventive ways to get in and out of her room."  
My mother laughs. Wait. Inventive ways? In and out of her room? Oh damn, the window is wide open. IN MY ROOM. Where my laptop sits with STUPID baby pictures on the screen. I run as quickly as I can, up the stairs, down the hallway and into my room. And the first thing I hear is Katniss' laughter resonating in my room.  
"Hey neighbor!" she says sneakily, laughing loudly. I groan and swat Katniss away from my laptop.  
"Oh look, now I have a stalker neighbor next door!" I exclaim playfully. Katniss rolls her eyes at me.  
"Well, it's not my fault you left your window WIDE open. You should work on that, Peeta." She smiles. Just as I open my mouth to say something, I hear a groaning voice downstairs.  
"KAATNISS!" I can only assume it's Gale. Katniss rolls her eyes annoyingly and yells back,  
"GAALE!" the whole family bursts into laughter downstairs.  
"OHHH PEETA, COME DOWNSTAIRS!" Gabe bellows. I groan and flop onto my bed pitifully.  
"SHUT UP GABE!" I shout. I hear Katniss chuckle beside me. She flops onto my bed beside me, and turns her head towards mine.  
"Y'know, for a guy, your room smells oddly nice." She remarks, looking at the room thoughtfully.  
"Omigosh, my dream come true! The famous Katniss Everdeen just called my room NICE!" I squeal, mimicking a girl's excitement. Katniss glares at me playfully.  
"Why do you call me famous?" she asks curiously, quirking her brows. Oh. My. God. That's the cutest thing, I've ever seen.  
"Well, you never told me that you were a YouTube sensation, Kat." I remark, logging onto Facebook and scrolling to the video of her I posted earlier. It has A LOT of comments on the video already.  
'PEETA! GET ME AN AUTOGRAPH!' Delly says.  
'PEETA! THAT'S MY BESTIE FROM THE SEVENTH GRADE! HAI KATNISS, GURL!" Madge says. I point at the screen, proving my point.  
"See!"  
"Whatever Peeta, I'm not as famous as Boyce Avenue or Megan Nicole."  
"Whatever floats your boat, Kat,"  
Katniss opens her mouth to say what I can assume is a cunning remark but she is interrupted by Gale barrelling up the steps.  
"Katniss, c'mon there's food downstairs!" he says cheerily. Katniss' eyes spark with excitement, and she grabs my hand to lead me down the steps. It's like electricity. Really, it is.  
"C'mon Peeta! There's food!" she says excitedly. Her hand remains intertwined in mine as we go down the steps.

_Well. Dream come true, right Peeta?_

Gabe oooh's at our hands, but Katniss seems unfazed. She releases my hand when she meets my mother.  
"Hi Mrs. Mellark. I'm Katniss!" she says cheerily, pulling my mother in for a brief hug. My mother seems surprised at the fact she gave her a hug instead of a handshake, but she embraces her quickly. My mother's always wanted a daughter. After she releases, Katniss makes her way to my father, and instead of a hug, she sticks her hand for him to shake.  
"Hi Mr. Mellark. I'm Katniss!" she says in equal fervor. And my father pouts.  
"So you give my wife a hug and me a handshake? C'mere!" he exclaims, while pulling her into a hug. Hey, mister. You have a wife. Hands off. Now. He chuckles at my glare.  
"Y'know, I've always wanted just a daughter. Instead of three rambunctious boys, especially Gabe and Peeta." He says, eyeing me at the last sentence. Katniss laughs, and makes her way to me.  
"I like your parents." She says, grabbing my wrist to pull me to the food. Again-electricity. Gale eyes me warily then turns back to Andrew to talk more. On the large, granite island in the kitchen, a different array of food is laid out. Katniss' stomach growls hungrily and she looks down to it.  
"Shut up stomach, I'm getting food." She mutters. I chuckle and she turns her head to look at me.  
"What?" she asks, crossing her arms in mock anger.  
"Talking to your stomach?" I ask playfully. Katniss shrugs and mutters,  
"Just let me get my food." I raise my hands in surrender, and lead her to the food. There is fried chicken, there is spiced rice, there is pasta, and the easiest to eat-pizza. Katniss takes a large plate and piles a large amount of food onto her plate.  
"I'll get more later, if I can." She mumbles to herself. I widen my eyes. She's such a slender girl, and she can eat that much?  
"You can eat ALL of that?" I ask disbelievingly. Katniss shrugs, and turns her shoulder to meet my eyes.  
"Gale taught me how to eat well. And he always piled plate upon plate of food for me to eat until I almost threw up from all the food as a kid. So, naturally, I have a larger appetite than most." She says. "and considering I live with four growing boys, I learn to take my share pretty quickly." She finishes. I gulp.  
"_Four_ boys?" I ask, dreading the answer. The only brother I know she has is Gale. She nods, scrunching her eyebrows.  
"Gale, Rory, Vick, and Drew. Gale's cousin." She answers, grabbing a fork and spoon. I sigh in relief. Drew is her _cousin_. I grab a plate myself, and pile rice, chicken and a small portion of pasta onto my plate. This is more than Katniss took, and I'll be going back for seconds, since there'll be WAY too much leftovers for my family to eat. I make my way to the couch where I see Gale and Katniss sitting on the floor in front of the TV watching Wipeout, with their backs to the couch. I furrow my eyebrows. Why are they sitting on the floor?  
"Why are you sitting on the floor, dear?" my mother beats me to asking her. Katniss looks up from her plate to answer my mother.  
"Oh, Gale and I always sit like this at home. We watch Olympic trials on TV." She answers, smiling at my mother. She smiles back.  
"Well, as long as you're comfortable," The parents seem to be getting along rather well. They laugh together easily, joking around about us. I sit down behind Katniss so her back is leaning against my legs. I like how we are now.

Gabe flips to the gymnastic trials for the Olympics, and Katniss lights up. She sits up a little straighter and she abandons her food to watch. Her silver eyes twinkle with radiance as she watches the girls do routines. As I avert my attention to the screen once again, it's like I can see Katniss' slender form in a twinkling outfit, flipping gracefully and eyes shining with happiness as she takes the gold medal. I just hope she can see how beautiful she is and how much she means to me.

We finish our dinner and my mother pushes us out the door.  
"Katniss! Do you mind showing Peeta around the neighborhood?" she asks. Katniss nods happily and takes my wrist and pulls me out the door. My mother chuckles and closes the door behind us.  
"Well, neighbor. Let's go!" she exclaims happily. She leads me around the neighborhood. She points out the school, the park, the playground and all her favourite spots to just sit and think. I feel warm when I'm around her. Suddenly, someone barks from behind us.  
"Hey slut! Oh wait, your name is Katniss. I couldn't tell," he sneered. I clenched my fists. Was he talking about Katniss? I glance at Katniss who has her silver eyes dark with anger and is currently VERY interested with ground. I whipped my head around and saw a boy my age with a smug face, with light brown hair, brown eyes and a smirk plastered on his face. He locks his eyes onto mine. Blue on brown. I clench my jaw, and he smirks.  
"Who's this? New friend?" he laughs. Katniss shakes with anger, she clenches her fists so hard that her knuckles turn white. _  
_"Shut _up_ Nate." She mutters, tears threatening to spill out of her silver eyes. He laughs maniacally, and taunts her again.  
"Oh, sweetie. Are those tears I see in your eyes? Well, that's too bad." he taunts.  
"Tears from your smell." I mutter quietly. The boy who must be Nate whips his head up. He raises his eyebrows questioningly.  
"What did you just say?" he asks bitterly. He clenches his fists. Like he's readying himself to punch me. I come up to him and push my shoulder back slightly to defend Katniss.  
"I said, those are tears from your stench." I say through gritted teeth. His eyes flash with anger. I can hear Katniss chuckle slightly behind me.  
"You sure 'bout that, lover boy?" he asks menacingly. I smirk and nod.  
"That stink is all you," I say. He rolls his eyes.  
"Are you really going to be friends with that whore?" he asks, half curious, half taunting. I roll my eyes.  
"She's not a whore," I say through gritted teeth. _Okay, Peeta. Don't punch him. Don't punch him._ It becomes a mantra in my head. She's not a whore.  
"YES SHE IS, SHE LIVES WITH FOUR FREAKING BOYS! SHE'S A SLUT!" this sets me off. I grab him by the collar of his shirt and push him against a wall.  
"She's not a whore. She's not a slut. She's my friend. She's better than you could ever be. You're just a sad little boy who's scared inside and I don't care about what about. Just don't touch her. Or you'll be sorry." I threaten. He laughs. And Gale and Gabe and Andrew rush out of the house.  
"Peeta!" Gabe exclaims. They rush by my side quickly.  
"Nate," Gale growls. Nate's eyes grow wide and he swallows thickly. Like he's trying to push the impending panic down his throat. I release his shirt, and he warily stalks off.  
"AND DON'T COME BACK." Gale growls. I breathe to calm myself down. I look to Katniss who's eyes look distant, like she's in a flashback. Her eyes are wide with fear. She breathes quickly, and she collapses to the ground, her body landing with a dull thud.

* * *

Gee. Thank you world.


	3. Where Our Friendship Grew

**a/n:** sorry for the lack of updates. I went on a camping trip with a bunch of my friends, and I'm going to do a fic about it on th Divergent category. But if you really are curious, you don't need to read Divergent to understand the fic. Hope you guys like this chap? Kinda sucky though, not my best.

**concept:** Peeta's next door neighbor is a YouTube sensation.

**disclaimer**: I do not own the Hunger Games, Summertime by Cody Simpson, Summer Paradise by Simple Plan OR Say You'll Stay by R5

* * *

Gale rushes forward and catches Katniss as she falls. I stand there, as dumbfounded as Gabe about... well... everything. Gale turns to us and apologizes.  
"Sorry about that. Katniss is a little touchy with violence. A little family history comes back to her when something like that happens," he explains, cradling an unconscious Katniss in his arms. I wish that was me. I hear my name being called a few times, and I take one glance at Katniss and Gale, and I run back to my house, blaming myself for everything that happened.

* * *

I lay in my bed, wondering what happened to Katniss after I left. I run my fingers through my hair, stressfully. My parents do not know what happened to Katniss, or what happened with that Nate kid. I wish people like that would just find something to be happy about so they can lay off innocent people like Katniss. I glance at my open window, suddenly wishing Katniss could climb onto the tree, and into my room. But, I suspect she's at the hospital, or asleep. I know this was my fault. I know it was. If I hadn't lost my temper, Katniss would have been okay. But, then again, I couldn't let that Nate kid bully her. Was it a mistake? Was it all me? I decide it's my fault. If I hadn't moved here, or talked to Katniss, she wouldn't have to talk me on a walk and she wouldn't have collapsed like that. I just hope she can forgive me.

* * *

The next day, Katniss is home unscathed, acting like the incident yesterday never happened. I'd like to ask her about what happened yesterday, what the family history was all about, but we talk from our open windows. The windows in our room are facing each other, close enough so that if we reach out, we could join hands. But the pesky tree near the side of my window sometimes stops us from doing something. Which reminds me.. How did she get into my room anyway?  
"Hey Katniss?"  
"Hmmm?"  
"How did you get in my room?"  
"I told you, your window was open."  
"Yeah, but did you jump?"  
"How else could I get to your room?"  
"Well.. Yeah, I guess."  
A long silence passes.  
"Did you convince your mom to switch you to Aderyn Park?"  
"Yeah, I actually did."  
"Oh, cool…"  
Another silence passes.  
"Hey! Do you want to do a cover with me?" Katniss asks, eyes shining happily. I consider it. I can play the drums, the piano, acoustic and electric guitar as well as the bass.  
"What song do you want to do a cover on?" I ask curiously. _Not that I'd love to hear you sing some more..  
_"Well, I don't know. Do your brothers sing?"she asks.  
"Gabe can play the guitar, and he can sing decently. And Andrew plays the piano and the bass guitar," I explain. Katniss nods cutely.  
"Can you sing?" she asks, cocking her head slightly. I shrug. Sure, if you like horrible singing. I sing a sample of Summer Paradise by Simple Plan, and she cringes playfully. I sang horribly on purpose.  
"Well, sing seriously, Peeta!" she exclaims, after taking her hands down from her ears. I clear my throat, and my ears start to get hot.

_I can't help but stare at her  
Even when the other girls are passing by  
She got my full attention,  
I can't keep her off my mind  
One look at you, that's when I knew  
That nothing else matters_

I sing, smiling at Katniss.

_As the wind blows through her hair  
she got me praying that summer never ends  
hope it never ends  
'Cuz summer loves just not enough for me  
So let's make it last forever_

Her bright silver eyes deflate for a moment, but the look passes quickly. I frown at her. Was it _that_ bad?  
"What?" I ask, frowning. Katniss shakes her head, keeping up the happy face.  
"Just confused for a moment," she says. "You have a really nice voice. She compliments shyly. I smile.  
"Thanks." I say just as shyly.  
"Well, I was thinking, if your brothers are up for it, if we could do a cover with both of our families in it," Katniss explains.  
"So Gale, you, Prim, Rory and everyone else?" I ask. I met Primrose yesterday, she was such an angel. Katniss nods shyly.  
"Prim's been a little obsessed with erm- Brody Simpson?" Katniss asks confusedly. "is it?"  
"CODY SIMPSON!" screams Prim from the hallway. Katniss slaps her forehead and screams back,  
"OKAAY PRIM!" I chuckle quietly at their boyish behavior. And just as Katniss starts to apologize, Gale and another boy come in screaming holding a baseball bat.  
"What happened?"  
"What the hell, Katniss?"  
Gale and the other boy flail around, in the process breaking a glass cup, sending shards of glass flying everywhere.  
"Drew, you idiot!" Katniss shrieks, shielding herself from the glass. I duck down, and when the coast seems to be clear, I peer from the windowsill, and see Katniss doing the same. Her silver eyes peer at me, cutely wide and curious and she turns around where Gale and the boy who must be Drew stand dumbfounded.  
"Thanks a lot, Kat. I've probably been killed by drowning or creepers or zombies," the boy screams, running out of the room.  
"I'm sorry. Drew gets worked up about his games," Gale explains. As he gets up to leave, Katniss drags him back.  
"WAIT!" she exclaims. "Can you help the family and Peeta's brother's and I do a cover for YouTube?" Katniss asks, her eyes wide, smiling happily.  
"What song?" Gale groans.  
"CODY SIMPSON!" Prim screams. Katniss shrugs and looks to me.  
"How 'bout you Peeta? What song do you want to do a cover on?" she asks. I shrug, I don't really care what song.  
"Hmm. I don't know, I don't really care." I say nonchalantly. Gale shrugs.  
"How 'bout Say You'll Stay by R5?" Gale suggests. Katniss smiles at me.  
"Is that okay?" she asks. I nod.  
"My brothers love that song."

* * *

And that's where our friendship grew.


	4. Like You a Little More

**a/n:** hey guys! sorry I haven't updated in like 5 billion years, I've been very vusy :) I've been going out with friends a lot, and I was focusing on a small pice for a writing contest, so I kinda forgot about FF for a while.

anyway, this chap is a little short; but it's cute and a little bonding chapter between Katniss and Peeta :)

**disclaimer**: dear, I'm writing fanfiction. If I owned the Hunger Games, I wouldn't be here.

**and dear FF: whatever your reasons for deleting and suspending accounts are, you've never done this in the past. please stop. no-one likes having their accounts deleted or their stories to dissappear.**

* * *

"Peet, look at this!" Katniss exclaims from her desk. I chuckle and sit beside her, looking at the computer screen. She points to the screen, where the comments of her latest video starts.  
"Top Comments: Say You'll Stay by R5 - Cover by: Girl on Fire"  
'like if you want to be Peeta's boyfriend' Katniss smirks at me, and I blush furiously. _Erm, thank you? _  
'Thumbs up if you want Peeta and Katniss together! 3' Katniss blushes at that comment. I notice with great pleasure that the comment has more than 400 thumbs up. I smirk at Katniss.  
"Well sweetheart, let's give them a show," I say moving closer. Katniss laughs and we end up chasing each other around the complex. Our happy screams echo throughout the houses. I'm sure Haymitch, the town drunk that lives here is grumbling at us. I laugh at the thought. I feel a tap on my shoulder.  
"HAH!" Katniss screams, while running up the stairs. "You're it!" she screams, now at a far distance. I chuckle and get back to catching Katniss.

* * *

She sits at the top of the playground roof, a place where I can tag her. Too easy. She spots me and laughs.  
"Try and get me _lover boy!_" she yells teasingly. Oh snap. Lover boy? She's gonna get it now.  
"You probably shouldn't have done that." I say blankly and climb the ladder to easily step onto the roof. She panics, and I take this moment to tag her and jump off the roof.  
"Now _you're_ it!" I say happily, running off into the distance and hiding in someone's backyard. I really hope it's not that snappy girl, Johanna Mason's backyard. She could kill me with an axe if she wanted to. _Yeesh. _

* * *

"Hey!" a gruff voice barks from behind me. _Shoot_. Slowly, I turn around, biting my lip and preparing myself if it's freaky Johanna Mason. My eyes catch a pair of sea-green ones and a smirky teenager helps me up. With his bronze hair and his impressive stature he's bound to pound my face in. His smug smile gives him away though.  
"So," he starts, his deep voice thickened with an amused tone. I glare at him then dust some dirt off my pants. The smirk still stays plastered on his face. I can still hear Katniss' laughter echoing through the neighborhood.  
"Everdeen girl, huh?" he asks, still with the amused grin stuck on his. I narrow my eyes at him, and he chooses this moment to burst out in laughter.  
"Oh," he laughs. "oh-that is rich!" he snickers at me loudly, his hand covering his mouth. I throw a deadly glare his way, then creep out of his backyard. I peer around the side of the teenager's house and seeing as I see no Katniss in sight, I carefully step out of the cover of the house. I look around constantly to see if a sneaky Katniss is around, making sure my steps are quiet. I reach the grass by the complex playground unseen. Some time ago, the sounds of Katniss calling my name has ceased. I can't help but feel a little worried; that Nate guy could've gotten to her or she could have been hurt, but I know I'm overreacting. I stand under the willow tree that stands peacefully half in Katniss' backyard, and half in mine, and huff a small breath. I like this willow tree. All it's billowy leaves touch the ground, so when you go in, it's like a large green fort. And _okay_, maybe I like it a little more than I should just because it gives me a clear line to Katniss' backyard. I sit in silence, my back against the smooth bark of the thick trunk. I haven't heard Katniss in a while, so naturally, I start to get worried. After a good five minutes of sitting I stand up and brush away a few tendrils of willow leaves and look outside. My eyes scan the landscape, and I see no Katniss in sight. I huff in exasperation, and turn back around; letting the leaves sway back into place and the moment I decide to sit back down, I hear a light laugh and a weight fall onto my back. For a moment I think it's a clumsy squirrel, but I remember that squirrels don't laugh uncontrollably. And squirrels definitely don't have dark brown hair that blows in my face. Oh dear.  
"Katniss?" I hear a laugh in response to my question, and Katniss wraps her arms around my neck and lets her head rest on my shoulder. I feel her grin against my face and I smile happily as I make my way out of the willow tree. And as I give her a good piggy-back ride, I can't help but wish that it'll always be like this.

* * *

Katniss, I'm liking you a little more each day.


	5. Back to School

**A/N:** I'm sorry for the lack of updates! But this longer chapter is hopefully good for you :)  
- everything that I write about (at least the school scenes and stuff) will most likely be based off real life. So yeah... Peeta's course schedule was actually the way my courses were arranged in the eighth grade. I mean, there were more course rotations, but I just altered it so it wouldn't be confusing.  
- here in Vancouver, there actually isn't a BC School Games. I just made it up so it would sort of reflect the Hunger Games, but less brutal and more fun :)

Hope you guys like it :) planning on doing a chapter in Katniss' POV if you like.

**disclaimer**: I don't own the Hunger Games.

**and again, most of the events I write about from here on out actually happened :)**

* * *

Semester 1:  
block 1: Math 8/10  
block 2: French 8  
block 3: Socials 8  
block 4: Science 8

Semester 2:  
block 1: English 8  
block 2: Physical Education 10  
block 3: Drama/Art 8  
block 4: Cooking/Textiles 8

That is my course schedule for this year. Great. To be honest, I am kind of excited to go back to school, just because Katniss and I will be spending the _entire_ school year together. Yeah. We have every single class together. That's gonna be fun. And I know from what I've seen before, that high school is much more fun than elementary, so I'll be looking forward to that. I'm glad my mom got me transferred to Aderyn Park. Katniss, Gale, Drew (he's awesome.) and I walked there a few weeks ago, and it's awesome. It's just a five minute walk from the house, and the area is great. A two minute walk gets you to a pizza place, an asian food court, a Seven-Eleven, and the culinary program at school is great. A few downsides are:  
1. That odd teenager, Finnick Odair, is going there too. And whoop-dee-doo, I am invited to another 2 years of teasing from him.  
2. Freak axe-lady, Johanna Mason is going there as well. Yay.  
3. The town drunk, Haymitch Abernathy, is mentor to whoever is unlucky enough to be chosen for the BC School Games that is being hosted in Vancouver this year.

_Deep in the meadow  
Under the willow_

A heavenly voice sounds from outside my windows, easily breaking me out of my thoughts.

_A bed of grass  
A soft green pillow _

Her voice has never sounded so gentle or angelic.

_Lay down your head  
And close your eyes_

And when again they open  
The sun will rise

_Here it's safe, and here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you for all harm_

_Here your dreams are sweet  
And tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is the place where I love you.  
_  
We've made a few more covers since that day in July when we agreed to team up. We have officially been made a band. Our name is Girl on Fire, a spin-off of Katniss' old username 'KatonFire.' It's been so much fun. Prim and Rory made their own stand-alone cover of Count on Me by Bruno Mars. I think they'd make such a sweet couple. Last time I asked them about it, Rory made a face.  
"Hey Rory, do you think you'll get married to Prim?" I asked, kneeling down to his level. He's like a shrunken copy of Gale.  
"Ewwww, never!" he exclaimed, scrunching his nose. I laughed and Katniss just smirked at Prim. At first glance, they look like polar opposites. Sweet, little Primrose with her long blonde hair and fair complexion, and Katniss, with her longer, more graceful build, and her olive skin and dark brown hair. When you look more closely though, you would be able to tell they are sisters. They both share long eyelashes, high cheekbones, and a few barely visible freckles on their cheeks. And the bond between Prim and Katniss is unmistakable. I'm pretty sure Katniss would do just about anything for Prim. And Rory is so cheeky. And despite his "ewwww!" I'm pretty sure they're getting married. I mean, Prim could get anyone to propose. Katniss is a little more fickle and stubborn, but I'd be happy to propose.

* * *

We go to school today. And frankly, I'm a little scared. Gabe is going to Aderyn Park as well, and I know him. He's going to embarrass me. I'm glad Gale will be there to calm him down. (but he's already given me the talk about Katniss, which was mixture of horror and snickers from Gabe who was listening around the corner.) Gale and Gabe and a few of Gale's friends are in my PE class. Unfortunately, all the PE 8 classes were full, so Katniss and I were put into a PE 10 class. Kinda nervous about that, because Katniss and I are the only 8th graders in that particular class. I mean I'm not unfit, but I can't compete with 10th graders when it comes to PE. And from what I know, this PE class is a boy's only class, so Katniss was an exception. I think she's already popular among the school staff. I just think it'll be awkward if someone recognizes me from our YouTube account, because I've got to admit, we're pretty famous already. But Katniss begs to differ.

I dress casually, a nice pair of jeans, and a new shirt. My dark red, worn and tattered Converse slip in easily, and I grab my backpack and open the curtains to yell for Katniss. Yeah, we're that close already. Just in front of my window, is a wooden desk where I set up my laptop, a few pictures sit in the corner of the desk. One is my old school portrait, which I will replace when I get my new one taken later in the month. Another is a smaller one, where a picture of Katniss and Gale holding little Posy is framed. That was taken a few days ago. And the last one is a sneaky photo of Katniss and me taken by Gale. Katniss and I sit, back to back, in a grassy field. Prim and Rory's silhouettes play in the background, but we are the camera's subject. Katniss wears my red DC hat on her head. She stole it an hour before the picture was taken. It's a professional looking picture, and I love it. I raise my eyes from the picture and see the still closed window of Katniss. I sigh, and place my new binder in my backpack. At that moment, Katniss opens her window and yells my name, making me cringe.  
"Sorry." She smiles sheepishly. Her hair is put in her braid and she wears a simple gray v-neck t-shirt, and pale green jeans from the looks of it. "Hey," she says, smiling at me, her gray eyes twinkling with excitement. I chuckle a little at her expression, and she glares at me.  
"What?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. I still don't know how she does that. I shrug a little.  
"You just look excited," I explain. She smiles at me and nods.  
"I am," she exclaims. "let's go, Gale said we should leave early." She says. I nod and close my window after smiling at Katniss. Going down the stairs quickly, I grab two chocolate chip muffins from the pile . One for me and one for Katniss. She's loves them, along with the cheese buns I brought her for a filming day once.  
"Gabe! Let's go! The Hawthorne's are waiting for us!" I call, seeing as Gabe's blonde head sits at the TV. I hear him make a sound in acknowledgement, but he makes no move. I roll my eyes at him, and get an idea.  
"There's a bunch of girls you could meet if we get there earlier!" I say. I've never seen him move so fast.  
"Let's go," he grumbles, grabbing my shoulder and pushing the door open. At the Hawthorne's door, Gale and Drew stand, waving at us. I hear a "Love you, Prim!" from the house, and Katniss appears at the door. Her eyes light up when she sees me, and I try to keep the love-sick grin off my face.  
"Are we all here?" Gale asks. I nod. Gale, Drew, Katniss, Gabe and I are all here. Andrew left early, he's on his two-day trip for college orientation. He's 19.  
"Okay then. Let's go!" Drew says, running off to the gate with his arms outstretched, waving them around like an airplane. Beside me, I can see Katniss face-palm.

The walk isn't too long. Drew almost got run over by a car, but I've learned that's normal for him. I'm pretty sure with his airplane run to school, he's already there. Katniss and I make small-talk, talking about the school. She tells me the inside looks like a hallway, and that there are mostly boys that are blonde. She makes a joke about them.  
"It's like a disease, Gale and I like to call it "the blonde-boy disease"" she snickers. I roll my eyes and play along.  
"Are you saying I have a disease?" I ask while pressing the walk button on the crosswalk.  
"Totally, I mean, what's with this place?" she asks, while walking. I shrug and when we get inside, I immediately notice what she pointed out earlier. The school looks like a long and wide hallway, with a small cafeteria, and random halls off the main one. And there is a sea of blonde-headed boys, and I see very little girls, and they are all blonde from what I can see. It seems like the Hawthorne's and Katniss are the only dark-haired children here. I see Gabe pout at the lack of women, but he immediately brightens when one smiles at him.  
"I like this place," he tells Gale, and he runs off to say hi to the pretty girl. I snort and turn back to Katniss, but she's not there. I look around and spot her at a locker. I make my way to her, and she opens the locker, revealing the bareness of it. It's a lower locker. She makes a face at it, but stuffs her lunch inside and closes it. Her locker is in a small lane called Puffin Lane.  
"Where's your locker?" she asks absently, practicing her locker combo as she talks. I take a look at my schedule and it says: PL035. I smile inwardly. I put in the combination of the locker just above Katniss' lower locker. She instantly freezes, the lock in mid-turn. She looks up at me. I snicker at her stony glare.  
"You got a top locker?!" she asks in mock anger. I nod and smirk at her, putting my hat and lunch inside. She shakes her head and turns to me, leaning against the other locker.  
"I hate you," she grumbles. I know she doesn't mean this. "You just be glad you got me a muffin in return," she says. I chuckle and close my locker. A deep throat is cleared behind me, and I wince. I remember hearing this voice. More particularly in a backyard, while playing tag.  
"Hey, Mellark." The deep and amused voice confirms my thoughts. I turn around to see bronze-haired Finnick Odair smirking at me. My horror and eyes widen when he turns the lock of the locker just next to mine. Oh no. This is not good. I vaguely see Gale, Gabe and Drew open lockers in the same bunch as us, but I am frozen in place. My horror is making me choke up. I feel a small hand close around my wrist and pull me away with a "Peeta?" and drags me away from the scene. The last thing I see before looking at Katniss is a red-haired girl smiling at the Finnick Odair. Katniss looks up at me with quirked eyebrows, and I shake my head.  
"C'mon, let's get to Math." I say, putting my arm around Katniss' shoulders.

We walk down the hall, with Gale, Gabe and Drew at our side, and Katniss was right. It's like a disease. There are only blonde-heads here. Gale opens the door of the Math room, and the teacher smiles at us. She instructs us to sit wherever we like, and Katniss and I sit beside each other on the side of the classroom. I anxiously look around the room for a bronze head, but after the bell rings, I am relieved to see that Finnick Odair isn't in this split class. My relief is short-lived though, when I see Gale and his friends, along with Gabe sitting behind and in front of us. Behind us is Gale, Gabe and a boy named Ansel (I met him a few weeks ago, he filmed one of our music videos.), and in front is a bunch of Gale's other friends. I'm getting scared now. Katniss, who sits beside me, on the window side of the table, looks at me concern. She nudges me, and I look at her.  
"You okay?" she asks, her eyes looking concerned. I nod, and look to the front. I still feel Katniss' eyes on my face, but after a second I hear the snickers from behind us die down. I guess Katniss is looking to the front now. I sigh, and cherish the feeling of Katniss' arm pressed against mine. This year is gonna be interesting.


	6. Helping You Out

a/n: hey guys :) I was so happy when I saw that around 13 people (including guests) reviewed the last chapter ! thanks guys so much :)

- I know this story is going slowly, but I'm just writing about their transition between elematry school and high school, because that's always interesting. After maybe another chapter I'm going to skip ahead a semester and write a bit more about YouTube itself. but let's face it. they've got more imprtant things to do, and this is a busy time for Katniss and Peeta.  
- I am aware that this chapter is a but shorter, but I just started school, so I won't have as much time, because I'm gonna be doing that, buy stay faithful ! I will update as soon as I can !  
- basically, what Peeta means at the bottom, is in order for Katniss to earn money volunteering, she has to have a partner, which is where Peeta comes in.

okay, I don't own the Hunger Games.

let's get started !

* * *

I already feel the whispers about us. Katniss is as oblivious as ever, asking me why all the boys point and whisper about her. I face-palm at her question. Math went pretty well, the teacher was nice. She was normal. What _wasn't_ normal about the class were the bozo's sitting behind Katniss and I, snickering away at our shared whispers and our arms pressed against each other. I mean, we share a long table, and the person on the other table beside me picks his nose and flicks it somewhere to rot. Ew. No-one ever mentioned high school being kind of disgusting. Thank you, Gabe, for that very useful information. It's a whole lot fun though. French went pretty well, mostly because no-one was behind me throwing comments at my every move that involved Katniss. Katniss is one of the only girls in our French class, and the boys with the "blonde-boy disease" kept sneaking glances at her. And Katniss, being Katniss, brushes them off, thinking her hair is out of place among the blonde-heads. Katniss is the only dark-haired girl around here, I swear. Well, Johanna doesn't count. Her hair is more reddish than brown. And she's still freaky as ever. I saw her when Finnick Odair threw me a wink and a smirk while passing the cafeteria on the way to our other class. Are all 10th graders freaky? I think so.

* * *

"Peeta? Do you want the rest of my french-fries?" I hear Katniss ask behind me. I turn to see her sitting on the floor, criss-cross, with her colourful backpack beside her. I see her hold out the plate of uneaten fries in my direction. I hear Gale sigh in front of me.  
"Kaatniss.." he whines. "I'm disappointed in you." He scolds playfully, shaking his head while Katniss rolls her eyes. I chuckle a little and go back to my homework, listening to Gale scold Katniss and feeling Katniss glare at Gale.  
_Okay, I'm fourteen years old, my birthday is the 18__th__ of February, my favourite vegetable is spinach_-**thwack!  
**Something like a book hits me in the face. My face burns in heat. **  
**"Peeta, you're a freak." I hear Gabe say. I lift my head up from the "get to know you better!" sheet, and deadpan at Gabe. I glare at him and he shrugs, smiling innocently.  
"You're doing homework when you're supposed to be eating and laughing!" he exclaims, waving his arms around in an odd manner. I sigh and look back down. Now I realize he is right. I mean, nothing is wrong with getting a head-start, but lunch break is only an hour long. And I haven't even touched my sandwich yet. Katniss has already eaten her rice, her poutine, and the muffin I got her from the house. She's like an eating machine.  
"Guys, come on. If Peeta wants to get a start on homework let him." I hear Katniss say beside me. I nudge her in thanks. I busy myself with placing all the stray papers in my binder back in the rings, and I finally finish my sandwich a few minutes later.  
"Okay, who wants an ice-cream sandwich?" Gabe asks. Gale, Katniss and Drew glance at each other. They're going to say no. I know it. Gale told me they were brought up to have very polite manners, yet still be considerate and friendly. But they will say no.  
"It's okay Gabe, we're alright." Gale says quietly, and for once, Drew doesn't disagree with Gale. I take a look at Katniss who is playing Tiny Tower on my phone, trying to pretend she hasn't heard anything.  
"Gabe, just get them some." I say. Gale looks down, taking another bite of sandwich, and Drew swallows. They have been raised with great pride. I know they aren't very financially stable, Mr. Hawthorne is an architect, and some days he doesn't have any projects. It's Mrs. Hawthorne, or Hazelle as we call her, who brings in a steady amount of money in the household; not a lot, but she is the one who has a steady job. She works as a washer woman, at a local coin laundry. I like Hazelle. Respect her. With three high-schoolers, two steadily growing kids, and a baby, she works and comes home with a smile on her face. Gale also has a job coming up with slogans for t-shirts and posters. I know for a fact that he brings home a wad of cash and a new t-shirt every weekend. And Katniss doesn't work officially yet. She is a junior helper at an archery range ten minutes away from here. And I know that she serves at the toddlers nursery at her local church on Sunday mornings. Now _that_ I'd like to see. Our YouTube account doesn't make money. We have to be a certain age to become a YouTube partner. But the next time Andrew comes home I'll ask us if he can help us out. Katniss' family needs the money. And I'm willing to do whatever to help out. And apparently, that includes helping out with little kids on Sunday mornings.

* * *

May the odds be ever in our favour.


	7. Anything But

**A/N:** sorry I haven't updated in like.. 3 million years. But a lot's been going on, yet here it is ! Hope you like it !

**note:** they are 16 years old here.

**check out my profile for a poll concerning this fic.**

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the Hunger Games.

* * *

**Anything But**

* * *

"Peeta, come on, let's go, finals are coming up and we don't want to be late!" I hear Katniss through my window. I groan and roll over to the open window. I see Katniss lean on the windowsill of her window and she smirks at me. Since the eighth grade, we've changed drastically. Katniss wears more subdued clothing, and she walks with a more elegant stride. The skip in her step is still there, we are still children at heart, but being in the tenth grade, we have matured a little over two years. We celebrated Katniss' birthday a few weeks ago and I got my brand new camera to vlog the special occasion. Little Posy is now 5 years old and a happy addition to our channel. Katniss and I still get countless comments on little Posy. And Rory has turned 13 today, with Prim still at 12 years old. And they are still as opposed to each other as they were when they were 8 when I first met them. And Gale has yet to turn 18 in January.  
"Katniss," I groan. "Give me a chance to wake up!" I exclaim, rolling over to the other side of the bed, closing my still heavy eyelids. I start to drift off again when I feel something hit the backside of my head.  
"Peeta Mellark, it is 8:15, and I am not being late because of your sleeping habits!" my eyes fly open and I throw the blanket off my bed. Katniss looks away when she realizes I am only clad in boxers. I pull on a pair of jeans and I throw on a shirt, flying down the stairs and grabbing a muffin and a piece of pizza on my way out, only to rush back in to kiss my other on the cheek and grab my backpack sitting by the stairs. I pull them on and I click the button of my car keys to unlock my truck. Yup, I have a truck. Katniss hastily climbs in and I toss her the keys. She turns the engine on, and I run to get to the driver's seat. When I finally do get settled, it is then when I notice my completely disheveled hair. I sigh and keep my eyes on the road.  
"I swear, you are going to be the death of me, Mellark." Katniss hisses, smiling out the window. I roll my eyes, and I turn my head to glance at Katniss quickly.  
"You know I always get us to class with a few minutes to spare, _Everdeen_." I say, putting emphasis on Everdeen. Katniss rolls her eyes and scoffs at me.  
"One day," she mutters. "one day, we are going to be late, and we'll see who gets the last laugh." She mutters, opening the door and closing it with great force. My truck isn't the best model ever, but it gets us here in one piece.  
"Shoot." Katniss mutters, looking at her hands in sadness. "Do you have a spare shirt I can borrow for gym?" she asks, her ice gray eyes wide. I cross my arms and keep walking.  
"Peeta! Pleease?" she asks, skipping in front of me in the halls. I sigh and pretend to mull it over. I keep walking to my locker, and answer her by giving her my old shirt. It doesn't fit me now, so Katniss can just keep it.  
"Keep it," I say closing my locker.  
"Why?" she asks, pulling her hair into a ponytail for gym. I shrug, looking down at the lower class-men.  
"It's too small on me now, so you just take it." I say, eyeing the review package I got for English. I see Katniss turn the big gray shirt over and see the faded black _Mellark_ on the back. I'd gotten it last year, but I seem to grow out of shirts and jeans everyday.  
"Thanks Peeta." She says softly, looking up at me. My eyes meet hers, and I almost melt in their warm gaze.  
"Always," I say, just suddenly realizing how tall I'm getting.

* * *

"Alright!" I hear someone bark, I turn my head to see my childhood nightmare, Finnick Odair walk over to me. He looks to be the student helper with Gale for our PE class. Great. Two crazed twelve graders teasing me in front of my classmates. Yay. I see Katniss walk out of the girl's change-room with my t-shirt on. It's snug on me, but on her it looks like the shirt is swallowing her otherwise curvy form. I fail to keep the grin off my face when I see the faded _Mellark_ with the number 16 on the back. Katniss sits beside me, her head turned in Gale and Finnick's direction, who are talking to each other quietly. I think I see Clove, the only other girl in this class give Katniss the stink-eye. She's never liked Katniss. I don't know why, but if she tries anything, I will be willing to punch her boyfriend Cato in the face in a heart-beat. More boys pile into the gym, and Katniss shuffles closer towards me, making room for the rest of the students. Her shoulder press against each other, and electricity shoots from where we touch.  
"Today," shouts Gale. "We will be doing hand-to-hand combat as well as running laps." Says Gale, flipping through the clipboard. I take a glance at Clove and her unsure scowl turns into a full-blown smirk in our direction. Our eyes meet, and she sends me a threatening glare. I look away, not because I am intimidated, but because her glare feels uncomfortable.  
"Line up!" barks Finnick. I've learned that Finnick is a good guy, but if you piss him off, you're dead. Gale and Finnick split us into teams, the red and the blue. Katniss and I end up on the same team, and Clove is on the red team, against us. There is no doubt that Katniss and Clove will be pitted against each other. They are so equal weight and height-wise. They are both slim and slender, they are both exceptional, and they both excel in all areas of PE. This makes me nervous. The first pair is called, Drew and another boy I don't know the name of. We encourage them loudly, calling out moves and words of encouragement. I think Katniss and Clove are the loudest. After a little while, my name is called to go against another boy, and we are equal. We are both broad and muscular, and we even share the blonde, golden hair and blue eyes. The whistle blows and he throws the first punch. I duck easily and do a sweep-kick to his feet, and he falls easily. I take this moment to straddle his waist and throw light punches to his face. The whistle blows again, signalling the end of the match. I help him up and we shake each other's hands. I go back to my respective spot beside Katniss and she nudges me with her arm.  
"Everdeen and Heath!" Finnick calls. I look to Katniss in concern, it's painstakingly clear that neither Clove nor Katniss will give up without ending up with bruises. I see the boys on the other side look to each other in excitement. It looks like they would do anything for a fight between the two girls that are such equals. Clove stares at Katniss with a cold glare, and Katniss stares back in equal fervor. My heart-beat quickens along with my fellow classmates whispers. And the whistle blows. Clove throws the first punch, but Katniss ducks easily, punches Clove's midsection. _Hard_. Hard enough to knock Clove off her feet. She dives to Clove's form, but Clove gets up quickly. The next minute is intense. It is a flurry of hair and limbs, and I think I hear someone say they're pulling each other's hair. It's true, Katniss' hair is pulled free from her ponytail, but it doesn't seem to faze her. After another moment, Clove ends up on top of Katniss. I hear triumphant screams from the other side, but my eyes stayed locked on the scene. Clove goes in for a slap, and from what it looks like, it looks like it will leave Katniss' face red and rosy. I wait for the sound of her hand making contact with Katniss' face, but it never does come. I open my eyes just in time to see Katniss catch Clove's wrist. I think this takes Clove by surprise, because she sits back a little. The moment she does though, she knows she's made a _big_ mistake. Katniss takes this moment, to break free, and she lands a hard slap on Clove's face. We fall silent. Katniss quickly straddle Clove's waist, and Clove is trapped. There is nothing for her do. But the determination on both of the girl's faces does not get wiped off. Because if there anything else they have in common, they are both incredibly stubborn. That look gets wiped off Clove's face when Katniss lands a hard punch to Clove's face. I wince at the sight, and the whistle blows.  
"Winner! Everdeen!" our side shouts in triumph, while the red team broods in defeat. In good sportsmanship, Clove and Katniss shake hands. I think I see Clove squeeze a little harder than needed, but Katniss comes back, smiling slightly in victory. She breathes heavily and sweat shines on her forehead, and both of the girl's hair is a tangled mess. Katniss pulls back her long dark brown hair into a ponytail and smiles at me.  
"Good job, Kat." I say. I see Katniss get slapped on the shoulder by Drew and the rest follow. We like to think we are a family, this class. Katniss and Clove are like the two little sisters everyone wishes they had. Except me. Katniss is anything but a sister to me. She is my life, my favourite part of the day, and best part of my week. I just wish she could see that.


	8. Sick Day

**a/n:** ... I FEEL SO BAD FOR NOT UPDATING FOR OVER A MONTH ! truth be told, I've just been studying to bring my grades up, so I'm sorry. Some of you follow me on tumblr, so maybe you've seen. **If you wanna follow me, I'm .com :)**

dear lord, I've seen Hurricane Sandy, and I hope everyone in that area is okay. I've been PMing the author **BREADBOY, **and if any of you are readers of her fic "Mystery Voice" then, take note: **she hasn't been updating because of Hurricane Sandy.**

AND HOLY FREAKING CRAP GUYS, there was a magnitude 7.7 earthquake on Vancouver Island. I live in Vancouver, so it got me concerned, so it's alright :)

fghjklgfhjlkl long author's note, but I'm actually really happy with this chap.

**DISCLAIMER**: i do not own the Hunger Games.

* * *

I awake to the sound of coughs and groans, a sound that I have not woken up to for a long time. Another series of coughs and sniffles is what really propels me to open my eyes. I am met with the sight of my ceiling, so I roll over in bed in the direction of my always opened window. In response to my actions, there is a loud sneeze and a sniffle.

_Who would be sick in the spring?_

Oh.

"Katniss?" I ask groggily, rubbing my eyes. The sniffles stop immediately, and Katniss' voice sounds through the window.  
"Oh, hey Peeta." her usually jubilant voice sounds tired, and nasally. "You ready for school?" she asks. I can't hear her, but she is such a bad liar, so I can definitely tell she's sick.  
"_I'm_ ready for school." I say, exaggerating the _I'm_, rolling out of bed and running a hand through my unruly blond hair, that really needs a trim. "But, you're not going to school," I say, pulling myself to my window, eyeing the blue colour that needs to change to a soft orange. I catch a glimpse of Katniss through her open window, dragging her steps like a zombie and pulling a shirt out of her closet. I sneak a look at her pajamas and see her boyish looking shorts and oversized t-shirt that must have been Gale's and smile. I usually wear the same attire at home, minus the baggy shirt; she pulls off the outfit with style. Now that I think about it, Katniss could pull anything off with style and modesty.  
"What do you mean?" she asks, feigning innocence, keeping her back to me. I roll my eyes.

_She hates to be scolded, especially by me. _

I know every little thing about her.

Like, for one, she loves it when I bring her a freshly-baked cheese bun from home for her to eat. Her palette has changed from overly sweet to savoury. However, another thing I know about her, is that she appreciates and loves it when I bring her a cookie once in a while. Or how she always takes the lettuce off of her ham and cheese sandwiches. And how the gets the slightest snap to her voice during _that_ time of the month.

She's changed quite a bit since I met her in the summer of the seventh grade. Another example, her outfits have changed from overly bright, to subdued and soft colours over the years. One thing I miss seeing though is her hair down, her natural waves down. She leaves her hair in a braid more and more now, never leaving it down in public. I sigh, and pull myself out of window, clambering onto the willow tree and climbing into Katniss' room easily. Katniss and I have been very comfortable with each-other this past year, knowing every little quirk about each-other.

"C'mere." I say, grabbing her shoulder, ignoring her protests and cupping her face. What I see shocks me. I could tell by the way she held herself that she was sick, but not _this_ sick. Her eyes are droopy, looking like she needs a few more days of sleeping, her cute button nose red and she slumps against me slightly, telling me she's probably dizzy. I set her down on her bed and look around the house for Gale or Drew.  
"Gale?" I shout down the hall. I get no grunt or 'what do you want now Mellark? in response.  
"Drew!" still no response.  
"Prim? Rory?" there doesn't seem to be anyone in the house.  
"Where is everyone?" I ask down the hall, staring at the closed, dirty white doors.  
"Work or school Peeta today is Tuesday." Comes the raspy and sick voice of Katniss behind. I jump and whip around, my wavy hair flopping into my eyes. Katniss stands, her hair pulled into a high ponytail, thick-framed glasses balanced on her nose-bridge. I only ever get to see glimpses of_ this_ Katniss, the one who looks so at home and at ease, not caring about the way her glasses so cutely makes any expression she wears even cuter.

But of course I'd never tell her that.

"Look," I say. "I'll stay home with you, alright? You're sick, and I'm not letting you leave the house." I say firmly, planting her on her tousled bed. She sighs, the long breathe turning into a series of coughs and sneezes. I wince at the sound, and race down the stairs to promptly heat up a kettle to make her some hot chocolate. She _hates_ coffee. She never takes well to the bitter taste of coffee. I see a small jar of marshmallows, but don't reach for one. It'll turn into mush in the hot liquid, and there's nothing she hates more than mushy marshmallows. My phone makes the keyboard clicks as I type.

_me: hey cover for me I'm staying with Kat she's sick. _

I press send, keeping an eye on the kettle and waiting for the familiar sound of the _ding_ of my text-tone.

_gale: kk she's sick? _

_me: yeah, I'm gonna skip school, she looks really dizzy. _

_gale: kk tell her I'm gonna be there after work. _

_me: sure. When does your shift end? _

_gale: 5:30, short day today. Boss says to "get out and get fresh air."_

_me: ahh. _

_gale: I just think he wants to knock up his girlfriend ;) _

_me: ... _

_gale: lol kk gotta go _

_me: ... _

I shudder at the thought of Gale's 27 year old boss trying to bang his girlfriend in the office.

_Katniss, Katniss, Katniss, Katniss, Katniss, Katniss... _

I shake my head, as if to rid the thoughts of _that_ out of my head. I walk carefully up the stairs, making sure not to spill any drop of the steaming hot liquid. I kick open the door to Katniss' room, my bottom lip being bitten by my teeth as I stare at the two mugs in concentration, not noticing that Katniss is smiling ruefully at me. I set the two mugs down on her table, and she grabs one, blowing the steam off the mug.  
"Thanks Peeta," she says quietly, looking into the hot chocolate with rosy cheeks.  
"Always." I smile.

* * *

We spend the whole day like this. Lying on her bed, me taking her temperature every other hour, fretting if she is one degree higher than before. She rolls her eyes every time I point out her current temperature, she smiles when I suggest she go to a doctor. And she tells me it's just a "spring sickness".

I don't believe it.

Around noon, a few hours after I finally coax some bubble-gum flavoured Tylenol into her, the lights refuse to go on. The stove, TV and refrigerator along with the computers work perfectly fine. So we dance around the kitchen, with Cody Simpson's voice blaring from the stereo, in the refrigerator light. And when I have to pick up some groceries, we get lost while singing terribly off-tune to Justin Bieber, and then after we take an illegal U-turn, I almost run the red looking at Katniss, long wavy hair pulled out of her ponytail billowing the wind.

I slam on the brakes, watching wide-eyed at the young couple in front of me, the mid-twenties holding her baby boy in her arms protectively, and the man shielding the both of them from my old beat up truck. I hear Katniss audibly swallow as the green-light comes back on. And after we finally make it back home, unscathed, she forgets her bright green knit scarf in my truck. The next time I see it, Katniss no longer needs my care, and I hold it up my nose. The thick knit scarf smells of firewood, the smell I've come to recognize as Katniss'. I smile, and I forget to give it back to her. I keep it in an empty drawer, for the fear the scarf loses its earthy firewood smell.

That night, I dream of a life like the day I spent with Katniss. Waking up to her peacefully sleeping form, kissing her cheek as I announce I'm home from work, hearing the pitter-patter of bare feet as children come running up to me, enveloping me in a familial hug. The last thing I remember from the dream, before the blaring of my alarm-clock interrupts the peaceful sleep, is a life that I want to share with only one person.


	9. Little Peety Moments

**a/n:** ... .. I feel so bad about not updating ! sorry ! haha, but alas, here I am with a fluffy chapter :)

**you have to admit it. A lovesick Peety is the cutest kind of Peety. **

follow me on tumblr ! and of course, remove any spaces.  
mahnameiskiara . tumblr . com

I'm gonna give you a quote from later in the story, that I already wrote :)

_"Fantastic things are gonna happen now,"_ says Peeta :)

ER MAH GERD GUISEE I SAW PICTURES OF FINNICK AND PEETA AND KATNISS IN CATCHING FIRE ghfkjgflhkl I AM DYING.

**disclaimer**: I do not own the Hunger Games.

enjoy ad review :)

* * *

It was another day at school, Katniss and I were walking in the halls, on our way to English. That's when she caught the sickening eyes of Nate Walker, the guy who attacked her so long before. His light brown eyes raked down her body hungrily, and he caught me glaring. He smirked.

I gently draped my arm over Katniss' shoulders and glared at Nate once more as we walked away. I was seeing red, and Katniss noticed the way I gripped her shoulder tighter.  
"Peeta what's wrong?" she asked. This kind of touching wasn't fairly new, we've been a little more touchy-feely since the beginning of last summer.

"Nothing," I say.

"Are you sure?" Katniss asks, a doubting tone creeping into her voice.  
"Yes, Katniss, I'm sure!" I snapped. Katniss recoiled away from me like I was a burning fire. I instantly regretted snapping at her.  
"I'm sorry Kat, rough day."I mumble.  
"You wanna talk about it?" she asks, looking up at me.

"Too much homework," I smile, my grin lopsided. Katniss laughs, a sweet melodic thing I could never get tired of.  
"Awwww, my poor wittle Peety," she pouts dramatically up at me, her voice mimicking a baby's. "too much homework for his wittle Peety brain, awwww," she continued.  
"That's it," I sigh. I grab Katniss' head and pull it free of her braid and rub the top of her head with my fist.  
"Noogie noogie noogie," I sang gleefully, ignoring Katniss' many protests.

"Okay okay Peeta, let me go please! I'm sorry for calling you a baby, just please let me go! Please!" she shrieked, wrestling her way out of my arms. When I finally released her, she looked radiant. Hair tousled and wavy, eyes and face bright with a blush from laughing.  
"I look like a mess don't I," she asked, adjusting her backpack strap. She moved to braid back her hair, but my hand locked around her wrist.  
"Don't," I say, pulling her wrist down. "leave it down, I like it that way." I mumble, running a hand through it to part it the right way. She rolls her eyes at me, but doesn't make a move to grab another hair tie. Instead, she raises her hand towards my cheek. My eyes widen and my heart starts to beat frantically at her touch. Her hand rests on my cheek, and the world seems to melt away. She smiles up at me, and sighs, casting her eyes downwards. After another glance up at me, she encircles her arms around my middle, burying her face in my chest.

"Thanks Peeta," she mumbles, her voice slightly muffled.  
"What for?" I ask, enveloping her slender form with my arms.  
"For being my best friend, thank you," she mumbles again.  
"My pleasure," I say, resting my chin atop her head.  
"I love you," she mumbles and I freeze. I seriously think I heard her wrong.  
"I love you Peeta," she mumbles again. A soft smile breaks out on my face.  
"I love you too,"

* * *

Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I rolled my eyes.  
_Really? _

"No public displays of affection please," came a gruff voice. I freeze and release Katniss. She blushes and scratches the back of her neck awkwardly.  
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." I say to the teacher. He rolls his eyes and stalks off. When he disappears out of sight, I release my laugh. Katniss covers her face, smiling behind them and pipes up.  
"That was embarassing," she mutters. I laugh and take her wrists pulling them away from her face.  
"Hey, it's alright," I say, my lopsided grin coming back. "besides, you can't blame him," I say. Katniss quirks her eyebrows.  
"Why not?" she asks confusedly. I smile ruefully.  
"We'd make a good couple." I say, searching her eyes for any trace of disgust. She only stares at me, her gray eyes softening.  
"Yeah," she breathes. "we'd make a good couple."

* * *

"So, I saw you and Katniss hugging," Gale comes up to me, nudging me with his shoulder. I shrug.  
"Can friends not hug?" eyeing Katniss out of the corner of my eye.  
"Oh, friends can hug," he says. "friends don't hug like you and her though," he finishes, eyeing Madge beside Katni- wait.  
"Do you like Madge?" I whisper roughly, grabbing and pulling on his thick flannel sleeve.  
"Shut up," he growls. A smiles breaks out on my face that I try to suppress. To our misfortune, Katniss notices me, and says goodbye to Madge. She pads up to us, eyeing us, eyes narrowed.

"What happened?" she asks.  
"Gale likes Madge!" I whisper, finally exploding. Katniss' eyes widen at me before drifting away to Gale's.  
"Just remember," she whispers, eyes wide like she's telling us a secret. Gale leans in. "you break her heart, I break your face." she finishes. Gale groans and turns around to bang his head on his locker.  
"Awwww, my little Gale is in looove," she sing-songs, dancing around the hallway.  
"Oh my god," she says. "does Madge know, huh huh?" she nags, pulling at his jacket like a child.  
"No!" he groans. I notice Madge wandering back towards us, and slap Gale.

"Hey, Magpie at ten o clock," I whisper. Gale immediately straightens up, begging Katniss to comb down his hair. When Madge finally comes up to us, Gale is smiling.  
"Hi Gale," she says, a light blush staining her pale cheeks. Katniss and I exchange a smirk.  
"Hey Madge," he says coolly. I see Katniss roll her eyes.

"Don't be cool," she says between coughing. I see Gale flinch a little and recover again.  
"So what class do you have next?" he asks. I have to smack my forehead at that.

_Smooth, Gale.  
_

"Textiles," Madge replies. Gale nods enthusiastically. "I hate Textiles though," Madge goes on. "my mom makes me take it so I can learn how to be a lady" she finishes, shaking her head.

"You look like a lady to me," Gale says, not seeming to notice what he was insinuating.  
"and a very pretty one at that," he says quickly.

_Good save, Gale. _

"Thanks," Madge mumbles. Gale smiles and they walk off together down the hall.

"Awwww, they're so cute," I say. Katniss laughs and punches my shoulder lightly.  
"Yeah yeah Peety, let's get to class," I nod and we walk down the hall to English.

Little did I know, that Madge and Gale were talking about how cute_ we_ were.


	10. That Moment

**author note: alright, short but important chapter :) **

_if anyone is looking for a beta-reader, go check out my beta profile :) _

_and the quote of the day will be... Haymitch !_

_"Nice to finally meet you sweetheart, although from that entrance, you aren't all that sweet are you."  
_

**disclaimer:** I do not own the Hunger Games, nor the characters.

* * *

Yesterday was supposed to go smoothly. We were in our last year, Madge, Katniss, Drew and I were supposed to graduate smoothly.

This was not the case.

Because at exactly 4:16 in the afternoon of March 9th, someone called.  
I picked up the phone, after my father told me it was for me. He had a strange smile on his face, excited and proud.

At the time, I didn't know what to make of it.

"Hello?" I asked.  
"Hello," the voice was deep and raspy. "is this Peeta Mellark?" the voice asked.  
"Yes," I said.  
There was a slight pause where I thought whoever called had hung up.  
"My name is Haymitch Abernathy, and we are interested in signing you to Snow Labels."  
I couldn't breathe. Was this true?  
"Are you serious?" I asked disbelievingly into the receiver. Haymitch chuckled, low and raspy, and replied.  
"Yes Mr. Mellark, are you interested?" he asked.  
"HELL YEAH I'm interested, let me get Katniss and w-"  
"I think you misunderstood me." My heart started to plummet.  
"Excuse me?" I asked.  
"Well, Ms. Everdeen has a beautiful voice, but unfortunately, Mr. Snow has only asked for you to come in."

I couldn't breathe.

I was handed the opportunity of a lifetime, but without Katniss.

My complete other half wasn't going to come on this journey with me.

"Just me?" I clarified.  
"Just you," Haymitch confirmed. "trust me kid, if it were me making the decisions, you and sweetheart would have gotten this call a _long_ time ago."

My heart started beating faster and faster. For a moment, my breath hitched and I was blinded by visions of flashing lights and wild aupplause.

But the thought went as soon as it came.

I wouldn't do this without Katniss.

"I'm sorry Mr. Abernathy, but could I call you back? I need to discuss this with my family." I said, feeling a little deflated.  
"No problem, just don't take too long alright?"

I nodded and bidded my farewell. But before I hung up, he shouted.  
"Peeta wait!" the phone went back to my ear in an instant.  
"Yes?"  
"I just want to let you know that I am going to do everything in my power to get Ms. Everdeen signed as well. She's got a beautiful and unique voice that doesn't deserve to go to waste."

and with that, the line went dead.

I spent the entire night in bed just thinking. After a few hours of not being able to sleep I stood up and slumped into my desk. I took a glance at my computer.

I was still signed into our YouTube account. We were successful on YouTube, and I noticed in the comments someone chanting the name _Everlark_. I wondered what they meant by _Everlark will Prevail_, but I thought nothing of it.

I held my head in my hands, and my gaze caught onto the framed picture on the corner of my desk.

It was her photo. She smiled brightly into the camera, her hair loose and wavy and billowing in the wind. She was caught in mid-laugh and the shutter went off at the exact time she glanced at the camera.

It was a beautiful picture, the background a meadow of yellow dandelions.

If anything was clear, it was my feelings for her would not go away anytime soon, and I wanted to tell her. She never dated, and she never had a boyfriend.

And that was the moment, I knew that I would never go anywhere without her.

That was the moment I knew I loved her.


	11. I Love You, Always

**a/n:** for Katniss' outfit I imagined her wearing a gray skirt, one of those old and tacky Christmas sweaters, some sheer stockings, a pair of leather combat boots and some cute legwarmers :)

**disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Suzanne Collins or the Hunger Games.

I figured, since it's Christmas (I still can't wrap my head around the fact it's already Christmas Eve.), I'd update.

And no fear my dear readers, a dramatic, tear-jerking scene is on it's way !

_and the quote of the day comes from... Effie _  
_"Well, there's no doubt in my mind that you would make a wonderful boyfriend for a lucky girl Peeta!" _

oh Effie.

* * *

"Peeta?" her groggy voice has me wide awake.

"Yeah?" I rub my eyes in an attempt to chase away sleep. As of late, our bond has grown stronger. Over pizza nights and singing songs in my bedroom, it wouldn't be a surprise if we were mistaken as a couple. In fact, I bet that's what is going to happen later tonight at my family's Christmas party. There's no doubt that my aunt Effie is going to hound me with questions once Katniss has left within ear-shot.

_What's her name?_  
_Where is she from?_  
_Where did she get her shoes?_  
_Did you propose?_  
_She's pretty, did you ask her out?_  
_Are you sure you two aren't dating?_  
_You seem to like her a lot, just ask her out!_

Ugh. Don't get me wrong I love my Aunt Effie, her eccentric personality just gets on my nerves sometimes.

"Will I have to dress up for your party?"

Oh. Right. If there is one thing Katniss hates, it's a party where you have to dress up.  
"Umm," I stutter. "maybe just a nice skirt or a comfy dress, it's not too formal."

"Peeta Mellark," she hisses. "you did not warm me!" she exclaims, bouncing up from her bed and scurrying away to open her closet.

I'm not stupid. I know that Katniss doesn't own many dresses or skirts.

"I have an old skirt that I can wear under a Christmas sweater, will that work?" she asks. I barely hear her though. Her pajamas, for winter, are more revealing than I think I could handle. Her long legs seem to go on for miles under her sleep-shorts.

"Peeta?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, erm, that'll work,"

Katniss turns around and smiles at me, as if she knows why I seem to be nervous.

Well, the girl of my dreams is standing in front of me in sleep-shorts, what do you expect me to do?

* * *

Katniss has decided on an outfit. To her dismay, her mother has her wear a skirt with stockings and leg-warmers. To her fortune, her mother lets her wear her favorite boots.

The last thing she has to worry about is her sweater.

"Which sweater should I wear Peeta?"

my head whips around at the sound of her voice. Katniss stands, holding up two hangers where two equally tacky Christmas sweaters lay draped on the hangers.

"Hmmmm.." I swing around in the spinny chair to face her fully.

"This one," I pad over to Katniss, snatch the two sweaters off her fingers, and fling them somewhere in her room.  
"What the hell?" she exclaims, scampering over to where one of her sweaters hang on her ceiling fan. While she's busy I reach under her desk to grab it.

"This," I say. "is what you're gonna wear to the party," I hand her neatly wrapped gift to her, the box slightly crinkling. Her eyes follow my gaze to what is held in my hands and she frowns.

"Peeta," she groans. "I told you not to get anything for me!" she exclaims, grabbing the box out of my hands and ripping the bright wrapping paper.

The expression on her face has me chuckling. She looks giddy and excited, biting her lip and eyes bright with excitement.

She opens the box and her expression falls.

"A sweater?" she inquires. "that looks just as tacky as my other ones?"

"Don't get me wrong Peeta, I appreciate that you actually got me a gift-" I cut her off by lifting the sweater away from the box. Her gasp of surprise makes me smile.

"Oh, Peeta," she breathes. "it's so beautiful!" Katniss lifts the necklace up, the light of the lamp catching on the chain.

"Here, let me put it on for you," I grasp the necklace out of her hands. I brush her long hair off her back, feeling the smooth skin of the back of her neck.

There's a slight shake, goosebumps arise on her skin and a blush starts to bloom on her cheeks.

I suppress an urge to smile excitedly. Not only is she wearing my old sweater, but she's wearing the necklace I bought her! And I have to admit, Katniss looks fabulous when she wears my clothes.

There's a part of me that wonders; what would happen if we didn't meet? Would we be friends? Would she even know of my existence? I'm sure she'd be famous without me, but what would happen to me?

I shudder.

I don't want to think of a life where Katniss wasn't in it.

In fact, if I were to live a thousand lives, I would want to make her mine in every one.

_Is it not just me that feels it? She could feel the same way_-no. No Peeta. There is absolutely no way she feels anything other than brotherly friendship towards you; you've been her friend for too long, and you've fallen into the friend-zone.

_It's already too late._

* * *

The necklace looks beautiful hanging on her neck. The tiny little infinite loop, silver and gleaming.

"You know what this means right?" I ask her, looking at her in the mirror, my arms making their way around her tiny waist. My hand grasps the tiny pendant hanging on her neck.

"What?" she asks, melting into my embrace.

"This means I love you," I whisper softly. "always."


	12. Giving Me Forever

**a/n:** okaay, sad chapter :( and don't hate me ! Peety is just angry .

**disclaimer:** I do not own the Hunger Games.

poor poor Peety :(

* * *

I count how many times the phone rings. It rings exactly three times during the party (to which avail, Effie has been hounding me about Katniss.).

The first time it's Gale, calling to say he's off with Madge to the movies.

The second time, it's Effie, asking me to wear that "simply stunning cardigan!" she gave me last Christmas. I make up an excuse, saying that I already grew out of it.

And the last time, it's Haymitch Abernathy from Snow Records; he tells me that Snow has agreed to meet with Katniss and I to discuss the matters of our signatures on a contract.

It's quite possibly the best Christmas gift I've ever received.

Katniss mingles with Gabe and my parents a little bit before retreating to my room for a breath of air away from the party. I follow her up the stairs and find her splayed out on my bed.

"Kaat," I lightly scold. "That's not very ladylike," I warn. She groans and burrows her face farther into my sheets. I secretly smile, because the blankets will smell like her after she leaves.

"Right, because I'm ladylike," she mutters, smiling into my sheets.

"Oh, c'mon!" I flop onto my bed beside her, stroking her free and billowy hair while I sit up.  
"Hey," I say. "I got awesome news." I tell her. She visibly perks up at the sound of good news and sits up beside me, both our backs pressed up against my wooden headboard.

"What is it?" she asks quietly.

"We're getting signed!" I whisper-shout. Katniss' eyebrows furrow in confusion, so I elaborate further. I tell her about the call I got months ago, about the Haymitch and how he got her on board too, and about Snow and that we'll get a free-ride to the big-time if we do get signed.

"Fantastic things are gonna happen now!" I shout. "We'll be doing this together, and we'll have so much fun, and we'll be free and-"

"Peeta I can't." I think my heart stops.

Did she say she _can't?_

"W-what?"I stutter. I look back to her and she's standing and looking at me with a wide eyes. She shakes her head quickly and reaches for my desk as she takes a few steps backwards.  
"Well, why not?" I feel tears in my eyes already starting to form.

"Peeta, I'm going to college," she rasps. I knew already she was going, I just didn't think she'd go so soon.

"What college are you going to, again?"

"Douglas." she mumbles.

"Katniss, listen to my side for one sec, if we do this, we can earn a lot of money, and then you'll be able to go to college; hell, we'll have enough money to send you to University!" I exclaim, feeling desperate. "Just please, Katniss, I don't want to do this without you." I plead, taking her hand.

She shakes her head.

My heart breaks.

"Peeta, there's a reason Snow only wanted you," she elaborates.

"That's bullshit Katniss and you know it." I start.

But she shakes her head stubbornly.  
"No Peeta," she exclaims, stamping her foot on the ground. "Snow is smart, and he's acknowledged that you're the better one to get in this situation-"

"Snow can think whatever the hell he wants, you're the one with the better voice."

"That might be true Peeta, but_ you're_ the one that the people will love." this shuts me up quickly. "You have that look, you have the cute voice, you have the style, you have the eyes, you having fucking everything they want Peeta, can't you see that?!" she screams, a tear slipping out of her eye.

I try to breathe normally, but all the pent up anger; at Snow, at Haymitch, at the world just explodes out of me.

"You know what, Katniss? When will you ever see that you're so beautiful, and that anyone in the world would be so lucky to have you, when will you stop underrating yourself, I hate it when you do that! I hate you when you do that!" I scream, my anger clouding my thoughts and I don't really know what I said.

Tears stream down her face, and she runs out of the room, crying horribly and flinging her necklace somewhere. I hear the front door slam and whispers arise.

My breathing finally goes back to normal when I realize what I said.

A leaden feeling fills my head, and horror starts to set in.

I stumble over to my door, intending to apologize, but I trip over something in the hallway.

My head hits the floor and a buzzing starts to set in.

"Fuck," I mutter. I stand, hold my head for a moment, and my eyes lock on the thing I tripped over.

A gift. Wrapped in a pretty wrapping paper that I've come to recognize as the Hawthorne's presents. And on the floor next to the present, is a silver chain.

Her necklace.

I fall to the floor and notice the tag on the gift say to _Peeta, from Katniss_. I rip open the paper and it reveals the front of a frame. Inside the frame, is a picture.

Katniss and I.

We stand in a meadow, laughing and shoulders touching. A tear slips out of my eye.

A yellow sticky-note peeks out from behind the frame and I turn it over. I recognize Katniss' small and dainty printing immediately.

_Peeta, _  
_ thanks. You're one of the best parts of my life, and I'm so happy to have met you. Sometimes I try to think of a world without you, but it's hard to imagine that. You're my best friend, but sometimes I think we could be something more. But whatever. The best thing about our friendship is that I know that we'll always be there for each other and we'll always have a tomorrow together. _  
_ Always, Katniss. _

And on the inside of the frame, where the picture is fixed, a pair of bright green ear-buds and wrapped around the outside of the picture.

The ear-buds that she used the day we met in the library.

And the necklace that lays on the floor sends me a very clear message.

I gave her my forever.

She gave me hers.

And with the sight of the necklace on the floor, the word always bouncing around in my head and her voice trapped in my mind, my heart shatters into a billion pieces, falling into her olive hand, leaving her the key to stitch it back up.


	13. In Which He Refers to Her as His

**a/n:** okay, I know, Peeta was EXTREMELY out of character last chapter. **Truth is, I was very angry that night, and my words directed to the world kinda poured of Peeta. I'M SORRY PEETY! **

but, no worries! Peety is back to caring and loving, and be prepared for fluff!

**this chapter is based on something that actually happened in school**. _Basically, there was this douche who was saying really sexual and personal stuff about a senior's girlfriend, and the girl's boyfriend saw and he got EXTREMELY mad. They fought, and lemme tell you: IT WAS INTENSE. I spent the entire time having an internal conflict with myself as to whether or not I should be booking it out of the hallway or dying from feels. There was a whole crowd and guys were cheering left and right, and girls were comforting the senior's girlfriend because the douche was being a douche. The senior won and when teachers pulled him away he shouted "JUST STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY GIRLFRIEND!" the ENTIRE SCHOOL WAS SILENT. If you think this only happens in movies, YOU ARE SO WRONG MY FRIEND WALKED INTO A PUDDLE OF BLOOD TO PROVE IT. _

so douches beware.

* * *

Horror starts to creep in the moment I wake from a fitful sleep. The dream was terrifying, the thought of a life where Katniss openly loathed me, her eyes hollow and unresponsive to anything I said.

I couldn't shake the look on her face.

Her gray eyes so hollow and uncaring, her lips set in a perpetual scowl, the blood draining from her face and retreating inside herself every time I came near.

I nearly vomited at the thought.

Cold and uncaring looks didn't suit Katniss.

I stumbled over to my always open window, still trying to rub away the sleep that settled in my heavy eyelids. I flung the window open wider, and I saw it.

It was Christmas morning.

And her window was closed.

* * *

I spent another week wallowing in self-pity. I could hear the faint cheers of her yelling "Happy New Year!". I didn't care at this point. I spent all of Christmas break drowning myself in nightmares and tears.

It was pathetic.

I was pathetic.

I spent another few days moping and yawning and taking showers, trying desperately to rid myself of the tthoughts of her.

But it didn't work.

The time away from her made me realize how much I actually needed her. Not just to see her there, but to do a lot of things in life.

She always coaxed me to do my homework, she always told me to fix my bed, clean my closet. She occupied most of my life, and now with her not around, the days go by much slower than I'd like them to.

School rolled around closer and quicker than I thought it would to. I headed to my locker numbly, turning the lock to the correct numbers. I couldn't really remember what I did after that, I think I slammed my books in and turned to my first class.

I didn't see Katniss that morning.

My heart would jump every time I saw a brown braid, but it was never her.

Since the eighth grade, there are more brunettes that populate the school now.

It was another two uneventful, regular, self-pitying days filled with screams and tears until Wednesday rolled around.

I was eating lunch, far away from where I usually would, when I saw Katniss in the hallway.

Next to Nate Walker.

My zombie mode instantly turned off, and the 'best friend' switch got flipped back on. I watched him saunter over to her, push his chest up against her tense back and whisper in her ear. Visible shudders went through her body, and she nudged his head off her shoulder, saying something I couldn't make out over the chit-chat of various students. He tried again, this time locking his hands locking around her waist. She looked terrified.

"Get off me," she said. A few eighth graders and other students watched the scene unfold, but didn't make any move to help. There were no teachers in sight, and it looked like no-one would come to her rescue. The wrestling team I recently joined knew of relationship with Katniss, and they kept stealing glances towards her and back to me.

When she yelled "stop" and he pressed his lips to hers in a sloppy kiss, I stood.

"Hey!" I shouted, pushing through the crowd of teenagers in my red-anger infused vision. Katniss tore away from Nate and I pushed her roughly behind me.

"C'mon man, what the hell is your problem, she said stop," I fumed. Katniss had made her way over to Madge and Drew, who were holding her in concern.

"Dude, chill," Nate laughed casually. "I was just looking for a kiss," he tried to push his way back to Katniss, but I shoved him with all my might back in front of me.

"Don't. Touch. Her." I managed to grit out between my ever clenching teeth. Nate laughed and advanced toward me. He walked until we were nearly nose to nose.

"Or what?" he prodded further.

"Or we are going to have a serious problem," I growled.

"Whatever man, she's the whore you're in love with." My vision went red, my knuckles clenched until they were rigid and my chest heaved up and down. For a fleeting heart-beat the world was silent.

I lunged towards Nate, my fists throwing themselves towards his nose. I heard a sickening crack and various shouts and cries. I stood over Nate where he lay, his nose bleeding and his face purpling into bruises.

"What the hell is she to you anyway?" Nate asked, looking exasperated and pained.

I yelled something back, but I don't quite remember what I said under my angered mind.

I vaguely felt a delicate hand touch my shoulder. Her voice, speaking to me for the first time in weeks infiltrated my mind.

"Peeta," she whimpered. I immediately noticed the feeble and scared sound of her voice. She stood in front of me, shrinking under angered gaze. Her hands visibly trembled and her eyes flashed with fear. I softened at the look on her face.

"C'mon, let's go home." she led me away and out the school doors, past the whispers and mumbles of various students. I think I heard one girl say she got it on video.

Katniss led me to the truck and she rummaged around in my backpack that she carried and searched for the keys. Upon finding it, she jammed the key into the groove and turned. She gently pushed me into the driver's seat before making her way to sit in the passenger seat.

We sat there for a few minutes in silence. I was still breathing heavily, my mind still reeling from the fact I may have broken Nate Walker's nose.

_Whatever,_ I thought.

_He deserved it. _

"I'm sorry." came her voice. I turned to look at her, fidgeting with her fingers and biting her lip.

"I'm really sorry." she mumbled. My eyebrows furrowed.

"Why are you sorry?" I asked confusedly. _If anyone was supposed to be apologizing, it was me. _

"If I hadn't provoked you that night, we'd still be okay. We would've spent Christmas and New Year's together." she mumbled, her eyes lowering in shame.

My breath ran out of my body in a _whoosh_.

She actually thought, the _fight, the things I said_, were her fault.

"Those extremely uncalled for and horrible things I said were not your fault Katniss." I said, my voice raspy and deep.

"I know, but they still hurt though." she sniffled. Tears shined in her eyes, and I couldn't bring myself to look at her face.

It was too painful.

"I didn't mean them," I said sincerely. "I was just angry that I couldn't spend that kind of experience with you." I grunted.

"I missed you," her voice shook with emotion and her eyes went up to lock with mine. Her eyes were spilling over with tears and I moved to wipe them away with my thumbs, cradling the sides of her delicate face.

"I missed you more." I whispered.

"Promise never to leave me like that again?" she asked. I nodded.

"I never want to leave you again." I said honestly. Katniss smiled a weak smile and her tears fell once more.

"I have something to tell you," she cried. "some anonymous man sent me a link to a website that was supposed to be his YouTube channel. I clicked on it and I just wanted to check it out." she took a gaping breath. "But it was a link to a website with a list of comments that were talking about me!" she cried. My grip clenched around the gear-stick of the car.

"What kind of comments?" I asked quietly.

"Hate comments. They called me a whore, a slut a lot of things." her voice shook with emotion. I instantly felt shame. I was wallowing in self-pity, half-alive when she read things about herself.

I wasn't there for her when she needed me the most.

I never hated myself more than I did in that moment.

"I just sat at the computer wondering why they hated me so much." she sniffled. Her thumbs twiddled nervously and her sobs overtook the depths of my mind.

"What do I do that makes everyone hate me?" she asked pitifully.

"You aren't any of those things." I said.

"Then what am I?" Katniss sniffled again, hiccuping and tears stained on her olive cheeks.

"You are," I said, grabbing her face and cradling either side. "the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. You are funny, you are pretty, you are not any of those things anyone called you. You're name is Katniss, you are eighteen years old, you love cheese buns, the colour green, the feeling of an arrow grazing your fingers. You're you. You're_ mine_." I whispered, touching my forehead to hers.

Her tears ceased and warmth rushed back into her eyes as if a dam that blocked a river had just been broken.

Katniss laughed, a melodic sound that filled up my insides, and threatened to consume me with promises of sparks and flames.

"Is that what you say to all your girlfriends?" she asked, smiling. My heart stopped.

_I don't have a girlfriend. _

"You called me your girlfriend when Nate asked you who I was to you." she explained, a rosy blush splaying across her cheeks.

My fingers trembled.

I called her my girlfriend.

I called my best friend, my girlfriend.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ I cursed myself.

I felt like crawling into a dark hole and hibernating for the rest of my life.

"You know, if you wanted me to be your girlfriend, you could have just asked." Katniss laughed breathily. My eyes locked with hers. My hands shook with nerves and fear. I gulped and my eyes flicked down to her lips.

"Will you be my girlfriend then?" I shut my eyes and clapped my hands over my ears to drown out the noise of any laughter.

I didn't hear any.

Katniss pulled my hands away from my ears and entwined her fingers with mine.

"As long as you take me on a proper date, then we'll be good." she laughed.

_I was dreaming. _

_I had to be dreaming. _

_There was no possible way I asked Katniss Everdeen to be my girlfriend and she said yes. _

"This is a dream, real or not real?" I asked, waiting for the answer with bated breath.

"Not real."

I gulped.

"You're my girlfriend, real or not real?"

Katniss smiled.

"Real."

Our lips met in a slow and heavenly kiss. My eyelids floated shut as Katniss responded.

It must have been heaven.

The feeling was too good, and too perfect to be real. We reluctantly pulled away and the look in her eyes told me it wasn't a dream.


	14. Scholarships and Record Deals

**a/n:** yo.

ok, so a pretty important chapter is coming up next, so watch out :)

mmm, how about Gabe have the quote for the next coming chapter ?  
"You better watch your mouth, I'm friends with a _famous_ person, _that's right_!"

**disclaimer:** I do not own the Hunger Games. (sadly.)

a few people have asked me about **the book cover for this, it was drawn by flawlessbieber who you can find on tumblr at: flawlessbieber . tumblr . com** (remove spaces.)

she's awesome, I love her drawings :)

* * *

_January 2013 _

"so there's still the matter of that recording deal," I say, flopping down onto Katniss' bed and breathing in the firewood scent of her sheets. I didn't know how much I missed that smell.

"Peeta," she mumbles. "you know I can't." I sit up and take her hand to pull her spinny chair in front of me. Her eyes are downcast and staring at her lap, her loose hair draping her face.

"Why not?" I prod.

"I've got college, you know that. And I can't juggle singing and school at the same time," she exclaims. "besides, do you even know it's gonna work out?" she asks me.

_No_, I think. _I have no idea._

"Well, I was talking to Mr. Abernathy on the phone and he said he did a thing where he asked people if they think we would become famous and be fans. A lot said they liked us, or already knew us and that they would support us." I said honestly, rubbing comforting circles onto her knuckles.

"I can't" she sighed exhaustedly. She span her chair back so her back was facing me, and she ran a hand through her loose hair. I sigh and flop back onto the bed, running a hand through my blond tresses.

I look around the room, refamiliarizing myself with the room. My eyes darting from the pale green walls to the large bay window, where a suitcase was tucked into the corner. A pamphlet was hung precariously over the windowsill and was flopping back and forth in the wind.

"What's the suitcase for?" I asked curiously, padding over to the windowsill and grabbing the pamphlet. The front was colourful, and the words 'the place for you' was written in bold letters. I flipped through the college brochure and at the very back, the words 'honors priviliged orientation program' was circled in a fat Sharpie.

"Orientation Program?" I asked, flipping the brochure up for her to see. Katniss nodded and reached for the pamphlet. She tucked it away in one of her desk drawers.

"Yeah, I got asked to do an early orientation program for the college," she said, busying herself with reorganizing her desk. Stepping over her fuzzy slippers, I touched her shoulder.

"That's huge, Kat." I said sincerely.

"Yeah, only around twenty-five to thirty students get to go." she said, a blush appearing on her cheekbones. I turned her around and my arms made their way around her waist. I tucked my head into the crook of her shoulder, where it fit perfectly while she hugged my firm middle.

"I'm proud of you," I breathed honestly, breathing in the scent of her lavender shampoo.

"I'm proud of you too," her voice was slightly muffled as she pressed her cheek to my chest.

* * *

We arrived to school the next morning talking and laughing as if nothing had happened. Madge stared as she stood next to the new girl.

Oh, did I tell you?_ Gale got the girl. _

We walked into English class, hands entwined and smiling when our teacher glanced at Katniss with excited eyes. After taking our usual seats, (I purposely made it a point to hang my jacket on her seat) the teacher declared he had to make an announcement.

"So, as some of you may know, there are many talented writers in this class, so I took the liberty of submitting some of your short story assignments in as scholarship applicants." the class murmured in anticipation. The teacher cleared his throat. "If I overstepped, I sincerely apologize. I just believe that having one more option to think about is better than having none. I truly think that there are many talented writers in this class who all deserve recognition. But here are the names of the scholarship nominees: Clove Heath," that was no surprise. Her older brother was taking a writing course in his university. I didn't notice the tighter grip Katniss had on my hand, or the tenseness of her back. "Delly Cartwright," another big shocker, _note sarcasm_.

"And Miss Katniss Everdeen."

My eyes widened. I never knew she was into writing.

"You like to write?" I asked suspiciously. Katniss blushed and shrugged.

"It's an on the side kind of thing, I don't know, it's kinda embarrassing." she whispered sheepishly.

"If it's so _on the side_, then why are you a scholarship nominee for it?" I asked.

"I don't know!" she exclaimed. "My writing isn't even that good!" she said. I searched her face for any look of sarcasm and found none.

"are you going to take the scholarship if you get it?" I ask worriedly. Katniss shrugs.

"I have no idea."

* * *

"KATNISS!" My father bellowed, running from the kitchen to the front door to envelop her in a bear hug. He lifted her off her feet and laughed.

"Oh I missed you so much!" He tightened his grip on her waist and Katniss giggled from being tickled.

"I missed you too!" she laughed.

"Is that Katniss I hear?" Gabe's face pokes out from behind a wall. He brightens at the sight of Katniss.

"KATNISS BABY YOU'RE BACK!" he screamed, bounding and skipping his way girlishly to the front door. After giving her a hug, the mood of the house was less tense. Katniss had no idea how much we missed her.

"Oh Katniss dear," My mother exclaimed, still holding a wooden spoon as she padded over to Katniss. She gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and a light hug.

"Oh we missed you!" she exclaimed, pulling her into the kitchen. She sat her down on the bar seat and filled up a bowl of soup and placed it in front of Katniss.

"Eat up, it's cold outside," she ordered. Katniss mock-saluted.

"Yes m'aam," and she dug into her soup, tearing the cheese bun apart and stuffing it into her mouth. An appreciative moan left her lips.

"Thank you so much, I missed your cheese buns so much!" she sniffled.

I sat beside her and ate alongside the rest of the family as we caught up in small-talk.

"So, are you ever gonna tell them about your scholarship?" I asked, my mouth full of cheese bun. My mother stared at Katniss surprise, and my father smiled.

"You have a scholarship?" Gabe piped up.

"I'm a nominee for a writing scholarship," Katniss mumbled, a blush spreading across her cheek-bones.

"Wow, that's very good Katniss, I'm proud of you," my mother said honestly.

"Thank you," Katniss said.

"I just never knew you liked to write," My father said, reaching for another cheese bun.

"Ah-ah!" my mother exclaimed, slapping his hand away from the basket. "You need to watch your figure!" she scolded.

A round of chuckles passed the table.

Glancing at Katniss, my eyes softened.

_I was finally home. _


	15. Oh Peety, Give Your Hair a Chance

**a/n:** HAAI :) I realized that this story is going painfully slow, and it's gonna take a good six or seven more chapters to get close to the end. So I apologize in advance if you feel like it's going to quickly. BUT THE FLUFF STAYS ! I'm a sucker for fluff.

**and about Fox-face's name.** **In the early screenplay of the movie, Fox-face was given a name, and her name was Marissa. Even before I knew that, I thought of her name being sorta similar, and I don't want Thresh to call her FOX-FACE. **

hmm, quote of the chapter... from... SNOW !  
_"Just remember Mr. Mellark. We don't give second chances." _

* * *

"You and your hair Mellark," Katniss grumbles in the passenger seat of my truck. "you're lucky I'm your girlfriend, or else you and your hair would be getting it by now." Katniss hisses at me, pulling the window up again.

My heart jumps as she says 'your girlfriend'. I still haven't quite gotten my head around the fact of Katniss being my girlfriend. She's always been my best friend, my friend that's a girl. She's always held the title of two words, not one word that has so much meaning.

"Oh please," I scoff. "You love me and my hair." I laugh, pulling the truck into the school parking lot. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Katniss scoff and pull her backpack onto her shoulders.  
"Fine. It's one of your more endearing qualities." she finishes, slamming the truck door closed and making her way into the school doors.  
"Yeah, but it sticks up everywhere," I whine, clicking the lock button of the remote and jogging to catch up to her. Katniss laughs and grabs my hand. I smile.  
Although she hasn't been treating me any different verbal wise, her affections show through her body language. She's been grabbing my hand more, snuggling into me a little when I put my arm around her, looping her arm between mine when we walk to the park.  
We pass a mirror on the way to my locker and I stop, trying to pat my hair down and make it less unruly. I've been into the clean look lately.

Katniss reaches for my wrist, jumping slightly. My eyebrows furrow and I lock eyes with her in the mirror. She shakes her head and scrunches her nose.  
"Don't." she says. "I like your hair. It's cute." she blushes and turns away to open her locker. I smile and feel my heart swell at the compliment. I give my hair a once-over and turn away.

The clean look has lost it's appeal.

I grab my books and head out for another long day.

Madge and Katniss partner up for an English project, leaving me with some huge, dark-skinned boy. He towers over me by a good few inches and makes me feel like a little boy with glasses again. It's not like I'm short, I'm well over five-five. But this guy, he could easily be six foot seven, give or take.  
He's huge.  
"Hey, I'm Peeta," I nod at the boy. He grimaces but smiles despite his obvious irritation.  
"Thresh," he introduces. Thresh and I spend the next period talking about our project, and when we're not, we talk about ourselves.  
I learn he has a life similar to Katniss. They're not poor, but they could use a more stable household. His little sister, Rue, is twelve years old and is pretty sure she knows Prim.  
"Yeah, she was talking about a really nice blonde girl, is that your sister?" he asks curiously.  
"Nah, she's my girlfriend's sister, but she always jokes around saying she looks more related to me rather than her." I laugh. Thresh smiles and I feel pretty proud of myself. Thresh is an awesome guy, and his little sister looks sweet by the picture he showed me.  
"Who's your girlfriend?" he asks. "If you don't mind me asking, I don't mean anything by it," he quickly adds. I laugh and reassure him.  
"It's alright man," I laugh. "It's her," I point to Katniss and Madge's direction where they sit working quietly, exchanging an occassional burst of laughter.  
Thresh looks genuinely surprised as he watches Katniss.  
"Katniss Everdeen?" he sputters. I furrow my eyebrows and push down the burst of panic that rose in my stomach.

"Yeah, what's up?" I ask suspicously. I trust Katniss. She wouldn't do anything stupid.  
"Oh it's nothing, it's just a lot of guys like her, and I heard about her scholarship," she explains. My heart drops back to a normal pace and I sigh in relief.  
"Don't do that to me man, you scared me into thinking my girlfriend cheated or something," I laugh, holding a hand to my chest. Thresh's laugh is booming and loud and infectious.  
"Don't worry dude, I don't think she's the kind of girl that would do that," he chuckles. I nod and smile.  
"Do you have a girlfriend?" I ask. Thresh frowns and shakes his head.  
"No, but I do like this girl, her name is Marissa." he says. Marissa. I rack my brain to see if I'd met her.  
"She sounds familiar, she might be in another one of my classes. But I think they call her Foxface there," I laugh. Thresh chuckles and he nods.  
"Yeah a lot of people call her that," he laughs. The bell rings, signaling the end of the period and I rise as Thresh pats me on the back.

"You're a cool guy, Mellark."

* * *

"Hey Peeta?"  
"Hmm?"  
"I've been wanting to tell you about something for a while, I'll tell you at home," Katniss whispers. Instantly, I review the entire day, thinking of anything that might have ticked her off.

_I forgot to give her a cheese bun this morning._

_My hair._

_My snoring._

_My hair._

_Her food._

_Does she want to break up with me already?_

_Crap, is she on her period? Oh no maybe she is, was she wearing her polar bear shorts this morning? Was she craving ice-cream?_

I run a hand through my hair stressfully trying think of the things I might have done to put her off. I feel hand grasp my arm and fingers intertwine with my own.

"Relax, it's not anything bad," Katniss quietly reassures. I breathe a sigh of relief and lean down to whisper in her ear.  
"Were you wearing your polar bear shorts to bed?" I ask quietly, my face burning at the question. Katniss furrows her eyebrows and shakes her head.  
"No, I wanna talk to you about the orientation program," she says.

_Oh._

"I was thinking, since I have to take a train ride to the campus, we could meet up with Mr. Abernathy from the record label about the deal, since the campus is a few minutes away from his office," she explains. My heart jumps. The record label was a touchy subject for us, and we hadn't talked about it since our fight.  
"We could give it a go together Peeta, and if it works out, I could put off college for a year and do that with you." she whispers, walking back to the truck for the ride home.  
"And if it doesn't, then I go to college." she finishes, looking up at me for my reaction.  
It's a good idea, but what bugs me is the fact that this deal could make her put off her college opportunity. A scholarship is hard to come by, and I don't want her to cast aside her dreams of college.  
But the idea of us being together in this kind of deal excites me.  
I spin her around and we share a laugh in the school parking lot. I touch my forehead to hers, steadying her as she wobbles from the spin.  
"Is that a yes?" she smiles. I touch my lips to hers in a passionate, love-filled kiss that portrays all of my thanks for her.  
"That is a _hell yes_."

* * *

**so in summary: Katniss admits her undying love for Peety's hair, Thresh and Peety meet, Peety questions the routine of his girlfriend's monthly troubles, and Katniss decides to give the record label a try. **

Phew.

Next up, meeting with our neighborhood-friendly drunk, Snow, fan-girls, and the Everlark ship gets remodeled.


	16. College And a Slightly Pedophilish Man

**a/n:** T_T I KNOW I KNOW. THIS IS SO LATE I'M SORRY!

**disclaimer:** If I owned the Hunger Games, I'd be so happy.

HAPPY EASTER SUNDAY GUYS!** MAY BUNNYMUND SEE TO IT THAT YOUR NEED FOR CHOCOLATE HAS BEEN FULFILLED. **

so, things are really kicking in for Katniss and Peeta right now, and next chapter will be most probably meeting Snow and errthing about the record deal and all that jazz.

quote for upcoming chapters is... UNKNOWN !  
_"Your girlfriend is really hot, I mean, I'd tap that." _

**AND CUE HOT GRUMPY PEETY. **

* * *

_4 years ago. _

I flop down onto the smooth blanket of grass in the backyard as Katniss approaches me, piled under a mountain of blankets and pillows. I can't help but chuckle at her disheveled form as she plops down beside me, smiling brightly under the light of the moon. She hands me a flashlight and a blanket and I smile brightly at her. Pulling out a pile of snacks behind me I hand her the jar of cookies. Her bright eyes light up cutely and she laughs, pulling me into a hug.

"Thanks Peeta!" she exclaims, after pulling away, digging her hand into the jar and grasping a cookie, shoving it into her mouth.

"Mmmm," she moans.

"Well, be careful, I don't want you to choke." I laugh, reaching for a cookie. She swats my hand away and hides the jar from my sight.

"They're mine!" she declares stubbornly. Raising my hands in surrender, I give up on snatching another cookie and lay back on the blanket, staring up at the pink and orange sunset sky.

A moment of silence washes over us, and the only sounds we hear are chewing noises from Katniss' mouth.

"Why do you chew really loudly?" I wonder aloud, the moment of wonder already long broken. OUt of the corner of my eye I see Katniss shrug and continue to reach into the glass jar for a third cookie.

"By the time we're eighteen, you're gonna be fat." I remark. She shrugs and continues to munch loudly on her cookies.

"Where do you think we're gonna be four years?" Katniss asks suddenly, her chewing becoming quieter as she swallows. Sitting up, I take a moment to think about it.

_Where will we be in four years?_

"I don't know," I decide after a minute's silence. Blinking against the yellow sky, I turn my gaze to Katniss.

"All I know is that wherever we'll be, I want to be with you." I say honestly. Uncalled for tears spring into Katniss' eyes and her bottom lip trembles.

"Promise?" she asks. I nod.

"Promise."

We spend the rest of the night pointing out fake constellations to each other, and by the time we fall asleep, the moon is high in the sky, and the jar of cookies is empty.

* * *

"I still can't believe this is happening Peeta," Katniss says, walking into the college dorm and grasping my hand with her hand and her small luggage rolling beside her.

"Yeah.." I absently agree, noticing the earthy colours and theme of the entire campus. I feel a squeeze in my hand and I look down to see Katniss smiling up at me. I smile back at her and pull her in tightly against me, kissing her forehead.

We make our way down to the dorm where Katniss has been assigned, and we pass a peaceful courtyard area. Everything is earthy and green here it seems.

That is what upsets me.

This place is perfect for Katniss. She absolutely loves the outdoors and this campus seems to have enough green but still look fresh and elegant. I'm afraid that this place might be too perfect for me to let Katniss leave behind.

This place will cultivate her talent, and I couldn't hold her back from something as beautiful as that.

"Peeta," Katniss breathes.

"Hmm?" I ask. Katniss loosens her grip on my hand lets go, moving closer to a colourful wall. My eyes shift upward and a giant mural of a forest is painted in the courtyard area. In the middle is a large oak tree, beautifully painted and I am in awe.

"It's so beautiful." Katniss remarks.

"It sure is." I say. "Whoever did this must be really talented."

Katniss' gaze shifts up to me and her hand falls back into mine.

"I bet you could do better."

* * *

We walk down a few hallways until we reach a front desk and Katniss approaches the lady sitting behind the counter.

"Hi, I'm here for the Orientation Program?" she asks politely, smiling at the lady. The lady pulls a pair of dainty glasses on and rolls her chair towards a computer, her ponytail swinging.

"Come over here sweetie," she says, motioning with her hands to walk over to the other side of the desk. Katniss walks around to the side with her luggage and I wander off to examine the campus further. It seems like this place is some sort of lobby or lounge or check in. The wall opposite the desk is a floor to ceiling glass wall. It looks into another courtyard. This one is more feminine looking, with pale pink cherry blossom trees billowing in the wind and sending tiny little buds onto the floor.

Someone slides up next to me, and he is an tall gray-hard man with stubble speckling his face. An awkward moment of silence passes before he speaks.

"Are you ah," he rubs the back of his neck. "here for the orientation program?" he asks.

"Oh no, my girlfriend is here for the program." I say.

"Ah."

_Is he a pedophile?_ I wonder._ Maybe he is. Aw no, what is a college doing letting pedophiles get inside? _

Another awkward moment of silence washes over us again.

"You should very proud of your girlfriend. Only the top-notch students get in for that." he says knowledgeably.

"Yeah, I am proud of her." I say smiling.

"Do you know what courses she plans on taking?" he asks, his raspy voice echoing in the empty lobby.

"I think she's taking up some sort of animal nursing or something," I say unsurely. The man nods and sticks out his hand.

"I'm Mr. Heavensbee, I'm one of the professors here." he says, his hand still stuck out for me to shake.

"I'm Peeta Mellark," I say, shaking his hand firmly. He smiles politely at me.

"Do you mind if I get your autogaph?" his question puzzles me.

"M-my autograph?" why in the world would he want an autograph from me?

"My grand-daughter is a huge fan of you and Katniss Everdeen on YouTube.. I wanted an autograph for her, would that be alright with you?"

I am positively floored and am scared that my hand will be trembling too much to write straight.

"Of course! I'd be absolutely wonderful to!" Mr. Heavensbee smiles and pulls out a thick piece of paper from his briefcase.

The paper is quite plain itself so I am already wondering what I could do with it.

"If you don't mind Mr. Heavensbee, the paper is kind of plain, and I'd like to do something special with it, do you mind if I give it back to you maybe tomorrow morning?" I ask awkwardly. Mr. Heavensbee smiles broadly and looks ecstatic.

"Oh of course! Thank you, young man!" he exclaims patting me on the back. "My grand-daughter's name is Iris." he says. "I like you." he declares before walking towards the lobby doors.

"Just give it to the front desk once you're ready, and someone will hand it to me!" he calls over his shoulder.

"Will do!"

I smile, knowing that this will be one of the very first things I will do for a fan personally.

It's gonna be something special.

* * *

"So this will be your dormitory," the front desk lady named Wiress tells us nicely, and gestures to a door with the sign 'FD12' in steel lettering.

"This stands for Female Dorm 12 and you can opt for a room-mate or a single room, assuming you choose this school, but if all the dorms are full we may need to place another girl along with you in the room, would that be alright?" she asks.

"That'll be alright, Wiress, thank you." Katniss responds politely. Wiress pulls a silver key out from her pocket and hands it to Katniss.

"This'll be your room key, and there is a key-pad with a four-digit lock combo that you will use instead of the key. The key is just in case there's any troubles with the key-pad, and we ask not to share your combo with anyone other than a room-mate and we also ask that only you or someone else trusted and nearby to have the key." she explains.

"Alright."

"And is this your boyfriend? Or friend?" Wiress asks, gesturing to me.

"This is my boyfriend, Peeta." Katniss says, smiling at me.

"Nice to meet you, Wiress," I smile. Wiress smiles politely back at me in return.

"Now this is the female wing, and no boys are allowed in here past 7 o' clock whether they are from the school or not. And we ask that if you do bring in a guest from outside the school, that no more than four come at a time and that they pick up a visitor's pass on the way inside the school, m'kay?" Wiress explains.

Katniss nods in understanding. Wiress smiles and her a card-stock folder.

"This is everything else you'll need to know, about the school and the program and if you have any other questions or concerns don't be afraid to come ask me, alright?"

"Of course, thank you, Wiress." Katniss smiles.

Wiress smiles and nods and retreats back to the front door. Katniss struggles with balancing everything so I grab her luggage and pull behind me.

"Thanks," she grunts, fitting the key into the groove. The door swings open and the room is magnificent. A strip of glass is the window that looks into the courtyard and two queen beds are situated or either side of the room. The walls are a pale blue and a large mahogany desk is beside both beds. A large closet are on each side of the room and a TV is already mounted on the wall along with a mini-fridge on the floor beside it. All in all, it's a breathtaking room.

"Wow, this is awesome!" Katniss exclaims, running up to the bed and flopping down onto it and laughing.

"Oh Peeta the bed is comfy!" Katniss laughs. I smile and set her luggage down beside the bed and close the door quietly.

She giggles girlishly for a little bit wrapping the fluffy pillow around her head.

"What's the paper for?" Katniss asks, only just noticing the paper in my hands.

"Oh you're never gonna believe this," I explain what happened with Mr. Heavensbee and she looks so excited.

"No way!" she yells.

"Yes way!" I yell back, throwing a pillow onto her face.

"It's the first real thing we're gonna do for a fan, and I wanna make it special." I blush. Katniss smiles and grabs my face softly.

"Even if you sign it, it would be enough. But I think it's cute that you're doing this. And it's special for the both of us." Katniss says softly.

"I know." I sigh happily. "This place looks perfect for you, Kat. I don't know if I can let you give this thing up." I say worriedly.

"Hey," she soothes. "we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, I wanna explore the campus and then crash into my new bed!" she giggles, bolting out of the door. I shake my head and set the paper down on her new desk and follow her to wherever she's gone.

* * *

wooooh.. okay so in summary, **a flashback to a cutie pair of 14 year olds sweaty kids exchanging cookies and being innocent, Katniss meeting Wiress: the front desk lady, Peeta meets a nice slightly pedophilish man who turns out to be a professor and grand-father to a cute fan, Peeta wishes the college wasn't so cool and Katniss runs off to explore her new school. **


	17. Gratefullness and Code Reds

a/n: I know, I know, I'm horrible. I've just been so busy because I just finished school, so I was studying for finals, but look at me, all done :)

disclaimer: I own nothing. (sadly.)

quote for the next chapter.. from Prim!  
_"Peeta, I'm scared."_

* * *

After Katniss' orientation program, and me sorting out a few quirks in our contract, we're back home in rainy Vancouver where it's still pouring in May. We took two weeks off school for the trip, but Katniss got full credit for those two weeks since her absence was for post-secondary related stuff. I, however, got excused as well, because apparently Gale called the school and said my trip was to sort out "my future budding career", so to speak.

We walk down the halls, my hand in Katniss' and we stop by her locker to grab her books. I lean against the dark blue locker doors as she swaps books out for binders.  
"So, how was the meeting?" she asks me, swapping a binder for a text-book. I shrug, slinging my shoulder over her shoulder and checking myself in the mirror of Katniss' locker.  
"Pretty boring if you ask me." I shrug, pressing a kiss to the side of her face. I feel her grin against my lips and give her a smile myself.  
"How was the orientation program?" I ask, swinging her locker door shut before we go ahead to walk to our next class. She shrugs in response, opening her binder to take a look at a set of notes written in her dainty scrawl.  
"It was alright." she says. "They told me I could minor in writing or music for free if I wanted, or go for a partial funding for my nursing major." she sighs, plopping down onto a nearby bench to run her fingers over her hair that has started to get that tousled look I love. I look down at Katniss, and damn, she's so beautiful.  
"What do you think you'll do?" I ask, sitting next to her and entwining our fingers together. Katniss shrugs next to me and props her head on my shoulder.  
"Not sure yet." she answers. I smile slightly and lean my head against hers.  
"I love you." I whisper, pressing a kiss to her hair. Katniss tightens her hold on my hand.  
"I love you." she whispers back, and I try to fight the silly grin that threatens to break out on my face, but it's useless. I know it's there, and it's not going anywhere.

The moment is broken though, because the spirited Johanna Mason skips over to us, her face contorted in glee. It's almost strange to see her in such a state, until I realize she's smirking too.  
"Aww, look at the two little love-birds." she coos, pinching my cheeks rather painfully.  
"Ow." I grunt, swatting away her hands and rubbing my cheeks to recirculate the blood there evenly. Johanna chuckles at my unsettled state and turns to Katniss.  
"Heard you got into some prestigious school and got a crazy scholarship. How'd you manage that, brainless?" Johanna cackles. I furrow my eyebrows and turn to Katniss to gauge her reaction. She looks more confused, if anything.  
"Where'd you hear that?" she asks confusedly. Johanna shrugs, her face void of any sarcasm.  
"It's the latest gossip topic." Johanna shrugs. Katniss raises her eyebrows and scoffs.  
"What?" she laughs. "I didn't get into any college that's extreme, and I only got funding for one of my minors if I take one." she explains, as Johanna nods, still standing.  
"Rumors annoy me." Johanna deadpans. Her eyes brighten as if a light-bulb was switched on for the first time in the darkness. "Let's make straighten them out."  
I watch as Johanna climbs onto the bench beside and takes a deep breathe.  
"Wait!" I exclaim, grabbing Johanna's wrist before she can do anything stupid to ruin our reputations here. "What are you gonna do?" I ask suspiciously. Johanna just smiles and shakes off the hand that's holding her wrist. She straightens up on the bench, and I can only watch dumbly.  
"EXCUSE ME, ADERYN HIGH!" she shouts, pressing her hands in a barrel over her mouth, intensifying her voice even further.  
"What are you doing, get down!" Katniss hisses, trying to get Johanna down from the bench as try I wave off the students that have gathered around the hall.  
"KATNISS EVERDEEN HAS BEEN ADMITTED TO A CRAPPY SCHOOL, NOT A HIGH AND MIGHTY ONE, YOU PATHETIC LITTLE LIARS!" Johanna shouts into the hall, stopping a few students and teachers in their tracks.  
"Jo!" I exclaim.  
"I never said the school was crappy, I said it wasn't anything extreme!" Katniss hisses. Johanna just shrugs.  
"Oops." she says. "NEVER MIND MY CHILDREN, SHE IS THE PATHETIC LITTLE LIAR." she announces again, and takes another breathe to shout more until a teacher stops her.  
"Get down from there, young lady." he says sternly, holding a steaming cup of dark-looking coffee. Johanna just snorts and rolls her eyes at the teacher and jumps off, landing with a heavy thump. She leaves without a word to any of us, just a wink over her shoulder and she's gone.  
A moment of silence washes over Katniss and I before she breaks the awkward tension.  
"Sometimes, I question our choice of friends." she sighs. I chuckle at her comment and stand as the bell rings. I hold my hand out for her to take as I smile.  
"C'mon sweetheart, this hallway has had enough of our fame." I say. Katniss smiles and takes my hand and we walk down the hall to our next class.

Lunch rolls around quicker than it should have, and Katniss and I meet in our trusty lane and wait for Johanna, Prim, Rory, Annie and Thresh and Rue to meet us before we settle down on the floor. They come in a group and we wave at them. They wave back and Prim runs up to us, enveloping both of us in a hug.  
"Well hi to you too, Prim!" I grunt as she releases her tight hold. Katniss chuckles and all of us settle down in our respective spots. WE start to pull out our lunches before I notice that Rue and Thresh are with a small lunch today. I stare at my two sandwiches and pull out a ten dollar bill from my wallet.  
"Thresh, Rue, want my sandwiches?" I ask, folding the bill into my pocket. Thresh stares at me and Rue switches her gaze between me and the two sandwiches in my hand. A moment of silence passes over the group before Thresh waves me off reluctantly.  
"Nah, man. You eat those. " he says, smiling at me. I roll my eyes. Of course.  
"No, seriously, I'm into ham and cheese today, I'm gonna buy from the cafeteria today anyways." I say. It's kind of true. I've had ham and cheese a few too many times for lunch already. I can see the wheels turning in Thresh's head and he takes the sandwiches and passes one to Rue.  
"Thanks, man." he says, shooting me a grateful smile. I smile back and wave him off.  
"It's nothing, they would've gone to waste anyway." I shrug, dusting off my pants and walking to the cafeteria to buy a juicy hamburger.  
I come back to see all of them laughing to a joke Johanna made, even quiet Annie is laughing right along with us today. I smile. It's a good day.  
I settle back into my spot beside Katniss just as she gets up.  
"I'll be right back, I have to use the washroom." Katniss tells everyone. Annie speaks up.  
"Do you want me to go with you?" Annie asks sweetly. I furrow my eyebrows.  
Girl things.  
Katniss waves her off and runs down the hallway, calling over her shoulder.  
"I'll be really quick!" as soon as she disappears, I turn back to Drew who is animatedly talking about a story when his mother worked at a casino and met a stripper. I've almost finished my burger, and Drew is in the middle of his story before it happens.  
Something comes over the announcements, but I can't quite catch it. Just as the announcement, a flurry of chaos ensues. The classroom doors swing open with urgent teachers yelling and screaming and all I can remember is confusion. I'm still standing there dumbly, the burger wrapper still in my hands, before I hear it. Thresh's voice barking out "Code Red! Everyone get inside!"  
A wave of panic washes over me, but I grab Rue and Rory and drag them inside a classroom before I can even remember what's happened. I can hear shouting and loud sounds and fear starts to bubble up inside me. Johann's hand closes over my hand and she drags me inside the classroom, telling me everyone's inside. I shut off the lights as a teacher tells everyone to remain calm and quiet and locks the doors. I pull down the blinds barricade the door along with Drew with a heavy table. I can only hear loud banging sounds in the hallway and loud laughs.  
Trying to breathe as evenly as possible, I turn back to my friends, only seeing them in the light of the barely there lamp that still flickers faintly on the table. Rue and Prim are crying quietly into Thresh and Johanna, Annie is in a ball shaking in the corner with Drew's arm over her, comforting her. Thresh looks as stoic as I've ever seen him, and Johanna looks uneasy, almost scared. I look to Annie in sympathy. She hates loud noises, she's a quite delicate person.  
For a moment, I'm calm as I settle down beside Annie's other side before I realize with pure fear, that Katniss isn't here.

* * *

_please read: _

_this part above was what I was feeling during a school lockdown of my own. I've been through two, and the second one was definitely worse. even though there wasn't anything to really worry about, it was scary. I was with my friends, huddled under desks and when the second announcement came on, it scared the asdfghjkl out of me, honestly. the lady over the PA sounded so scared and it didn't help me. luckily, it only lasted 30 minutes, and no-one was inside the school. but it was still so scary and all of my friends were there, and around 15 minutes in, the doorknob rattle so violently and I honestly thought I was gonna die at that moment. Two of my friends weren't there and I was so scared for them because I had no idea what happened to them. I'm safe, don't worry, but if you guys think it's funny, it's not. even if it's not even that much of a threat, you don't know until afterwards, so you're basically in a dark classroom not knowing what's happening and praying you'll be okay._


End file.
